New Beast Wars
by BackgroundRobot-11
Summary: Following the conclusion of the Beast Wars, the Maximals return to Cybertron, only to face a new enemy. Optimus Primal and his band of Maximals must now work alongside the Predacons and a new group of Maximals if they are to survive...
1. Home at last

Well, here it is, the first chapter of New Beast Wars. First off: I do not own Beast Wars, Beast Machines or any of its characters. Now that that's out of the way, please forgive me if any characters seem ooc, I only recently began watching the show again (thank you garage sale!). If anyone would like to correct me on or give me pointers, I'll listen. Thank you, and enjoy!

* * *

Optimus Primal and his small crew of Maximals (plus Megatron) touched down their ship on their mechanical home planet of Cybertron.

"Everyone all right?" Optimus asked.

"Great, big-bot." Cheetor said in his optimistic voice.

"Doing just fine sir." Silverbolt, the polite and honourable fuzor said.

"All systems functioning fine Optimus." Said Rhinox, Optimus's second-in-command.

"Whatever." Blackarachnia, Silverbolt's cold and calculating girlfriend said in a bored voice.

"As good as a guy with a rat as an alternate mode can be." Rattrap said, he was normally very pessimistic but right now he seemed excited more excited than Optimus had seen him since, well…. actually he had never seen himself this excited before, probably because he was finally back on Cybertron.

"Good. Cheetor, Silverbolt go check on Megatron."

The group exited the ship, checked Megatron (He was still safely secured, cursing his situation) and looked around. Instantly they could see that something was wrong.

"Wait, where is everybody?" Rhinox asked.

Something was very wrong, Cybertron was a small world, but it was densely populated, no one could hide in a place like this.

"I don't like this. Silverbolt you and I will scout the air, Cheetor, you and Rattrap will check the city and Blackarachnia, you and Rhinox will stay here and guard Megatron. "Beast Mode!" With that last word Optimus Primal transformed into a plane,

"Beast Mode" he heard the others called out (everyone except Rhinox and Blackarachnia).

* * *

Optimus and Silverbolt flew up high into the air, scouting the ground from the sky.

"I don't see anyone sir. It's very unsettling." Silverbolt said and Optimus could see that he was deeply disturbed, and Optimus couldn't blame him.

What in the Pit could have caused the entire population of Cybertron to just suddenly disappear? Suddenly he heard a loud droning sound, it was like a thousand engines all powered up at once.

"Up ahead Silverbolt, do you see anything?"

"Yes, it-it looks like a whole flight of jets. But those are attack jets."

"They might think that we're enemy Predacons, slow down and signal them when they come within range." Suddenly the jets flew forward at breakneck speeds. They then opened fire on the two Maximals.

"Wait, stop! We are Maximals!" Optimus called out to the attack jets, but they just turned and opened fire yet again.

"Silverbolt are they Predacons?"

"No sir they don't bear the Predacon insignia, it appears to resemble the Humans symbol for radioactivity." Silverbolt called out as he dodged a shot that almost grazed his wing.

"What? Another faction! How could this be? When could this have happened!" Optimus cried out, this was terrible, could this group be the reason for the lack of Cybertronian activity? "Damn it! Alright Silverbolt lets try signalling them once more, if they don't respond or open fire on us again then we will have no choice but to open fire."

"I understand sir." Silver bolt responded as he twisted his neck to avoid another sudden shot.

"Attack jets, this is your last chance, cease fire or we will be forced to return fire!" Optimus yelled out, but once again they were silent. "Alright Silverbolt, they had their warning but now it's time for us to fight back." And with that they turned around and opened fire on the group of jets.

* * *

Meanwhile down on the ground a few kilometres northwest Rattrap and Cheetor were racing along the streets, it was much easier than it had been then when they had been on Earth because compared to dodging rocks and trees, the streets of Cybertron were nothing.

"Well I checked main avenue, but there's still no activity. What could have happened here?" The last part Rattrap seemed to be asking himself more.

"I don't know Rattrap." Suddenly they heard engines revving up. They turned a corner and suddenly came face to face with a whole squad of Cybertronian motorcycles.

"Whoa, finally some life. Can you tell us what happened here?" Cheetor asked the group

"I don't know Cheetor, something doesn't feel right about this." Suddenly the motorcycles transformed and they were holding rifles. "Oh crap." Rattrap said and he and Cheetor raced down the streets as the motorcycles fired at them and then transformed back into bikes and started chasing them.

"Argh! Damn it!" Optimus cried out, he had been hit, right in the right wing, it wasn't serious but it had certainly hurt.

"Sir, you're hurt, we need to pull back!" Silverbolt shouted and then he himself was struck in the back leg.

"You're right Silverbolt, retreat, we'll go back to the ship. Notify Rhinox, Cheetor, Rattrap and Blackarachnia of what's going on." Optimus said as he and Silverbolt turned around. Suddenly he was aware of someone calling him, it was Cheetor.

"Big-bot! we've got a situation down here! There's a whole legion of soldiers down here, they're chasing us right now!" Optimus went cold all over.

"Do they have radioactivity symbols on them?"

"Uh I'll check." There was silence for a moment before Cheetor activated his radio again "Yeah they do, except it's blue instead of the standard yellow. How did you know?" Cheetor asked inquisitively.

"Because me and Silverbolt have also encountered trouble, ours are attack jets and they've got us on the run. Slight injuries but nothing serious."

"Oh man. Do you think these clowns took out everyone?" Cheetor asked, he seemed a little nervous.

"I think so, which means that somewhere out there there's more of them and they've probably got leaders."

* * *

Back at the ship Rhinox and Blackarachnia were just sitting around, ignoring Megatron's protests. Suddenly Rhinox got a call on his arm radio. He listened in and went pale (well as pale as a robot can go any way).

"Blackarachnia, we've got problems."

* * *

Rattrap and Cheetor were whizzing down the streets hoping that they had lost the drones. "Alright stop. Let's just check and see if they lost our trail." Cheetor said, he was exhausted from all the running, he really wished that he still had his jets, Rattrap was lucky he at least still had wheels.

"Alright but lets stay in beast mode, we may need to make a quick escape." They slowly rounded the corner "Ahhhh!" They both yelled, for the drones were still following them, in fact they were only a few metres away! They started running/driving away again.

* * *

"Let me help you Maximals!" Megatron yelled to Rhinox and Blackarachnia, he had overheard Optimus. "Just untie me and let me fight!"

His pleas went unheard as Rhinox looked down the streets, while Blackarachnia had climbed to the top of a building, scouting the skies.

"Damnit where are they!" Blackarachnia yelled, she was worried, even though she had once been evil and even though she was still morally ambiguous she did care for Silverbolt.

Suddenly she saw a flash of Silver. Silverbolt and Optimus had appeared in her line of vision, they were being tailed by at least nineteen jets, four of which were damaged. Down below, Rhinox heard Rattrap's engines and a whole lot of others. Rattrap and Cheetor rounded a corner, along with a dozen motorcycles closing in on them.

"Cheetor, Rattrap duck!" Rhinox yelled out to them as he activated his miniguns.

Rattrap and Cheetor transformed and jumped in separate directions as Rhinox fired and hit the drones, some of them were in mid transformation as they were hit and started writhing in agony, yet curiously they did not make a sound.

"Whoa." Cheetor said, clearly amazed.

They all watched as Optimus and Silverbolt landed but one of the jets just circled back and flew off.

"Damn it! He's probably going off to warn his superiors!" Optimus growled.

Suddenly the remaining jets started firing on the Maximals. The group took cover but wherever they ran they could see that their was no escape.

"Let me free Optimal! I can help you!" Megatron yelled.

Optimus sighed and ran towards the ship.

"Optimus no!" Cheetor cried out, shocked that Optimus could even consider freeing Megatron.

"We've got no other choice Cheetor! We're outnumbered and outgunned!" Optimus cried out as he was running.

He fired at the chains holding down Megatron. Megatron shrugged away the remains of his bonds and grinned evilly.

"Yessss! Beast Mode!" He shouted and transformed into his dragon mode, flew up into the sky and with one blast of fire, destroyed all of the jets. "Hmm, mindless drones that would rather kill themselves than retreat, yessss." Megatron said to himself. He landed on the ground "Megatron Terrorize!" He yelled "Well that was fun what's next?"

"Optimus I hate to be a wet blanket" Rattrap piped up "But if that guy did go back to get his leader, wouldn't he have a huge army? I mean he did wipe out Cybertron. I say we bail and find another planet"

"No Rattrap we will not run!" Optimus said, he was angry his lieutenant could even think about abandoning the planet and leaving it to those…those things!

"Optimus sir, as much as I hate to admit it, Rattrap is right, they will have an army. We cannot hope to defeat them in our current situation." Silverbolt said.

Optimus sighed again "You're right, Silverbolt, but where can we find an army, certainly not on Cybertron."

Suddenly the group was startled by Megatron's sudden obnoxious laughter

"You are a fool Optimal! Don't you remember? You left Earth without obtaining all the stasis pods, there was at least a hundred down there. And besides Inferno, Quickstrike and Waspinator are still back on Earth!"

"He's right Optimus." Blackarachnia said "We never did find all the stasis pods or those idiots."

"Be that as it may, our ship is simply not large enough to carry all those stasis pods back to Cybertron." Rhinox said

"Well then Maximal we shall just have to find another one!" Megatron retorted.

"Fine. Everyone back on the ship., we'll go to the shipyard" Optimus said but just as they all started racing towards the ship it suddenly exploded.

They looked around trying to find what had caused their ship to explode. Another shot rang out and this one almost hit Silverbolt, the shockwave sent him flying.

"Argh!" he cried out and landed at Rattrap's feet.

"Silverbolt!" Blackarachnia cried out, outraged.

She turned and found the source of the trouble a whole platoon of tanks had them surrounded them.

"Crap." Rattrap said.

They all opened fire simultaneously. But it was Rhinox, Optimus and Megatron's attacks that seemed to be doing the most damage, they had the most powerful weapons. Soon only 3 tanks were left and they transformed back into their robot modes. Optimus noted that they did not need an access command, perhaps they couldn't talk at all. They opened fire, their cannons were located on their sides, just under their left arms. With their cannons free, they used their hands to hold rifles, rapid fire rifles.

"Oh stand aside and let a real transformer show you how it's done." Megatron said as he shoved Cheetor and Rhinox away as he fired his fire cannon, causing the tanks to disintegrate.

"Let's move." he said and he began to walk away.

"Wait Megatron, Silverbolt is wounded!" Optimus said, outraged.

Megatron just snorted "So? Just leave him there, it's the Predacon way"

At this Blackarachnia walked up to Megatron, nobody made any effort to stop her. "We are not Predacons!" She shouted at him, angered at him for even daring to talk about abandoning Silverbolt.

"Bah! He will only slow us down." Megatron said calmly, not worried at all about Blackarachnia's sudden anger.

"Then I will carry him!" Blackarachnia said "Beast Mode!" At that she turned into her Transmetal 2 Black widow form and lifted Silverbolt and placed him on her back.

"Lets roll out team! Maximals transform and roll out!" Optimus shouted as he transformed into a truck.

All around him the others transformed too, Cheetor into a metallic cheetah, Rattrap into a giant rat with wheels, Rhinox into an organic rhinoceros and Megatron into a transmetal dragon. They ran off and headed into the direction of the shipyard. Surprisingly they encountered little to no difficulty…until they got to the shipyard.

* * *

"Well, that trip was surprisingly uneventful. Maximals Maximise!"

Optimus said and returned to his robot mode.

The others transformed as well, all except Blackarachnia who was still carrying Silverbolt on her back.

"Well, time to pick out a ship." Rattrap said.

"Don't forget, it has to be large enough to carry both us and the protoforms." Optimus reminded them.

"Hey big-bot! over here!" Cheetor shouted. They all walked over to the ship he had found. It was huge, red and looked like a H, it would easily be able to get them to Earth and carry the backup they so sorely needed.

"Are there any CR chambers for Silverbolt?" Blackarachnia asked.

"Twenty! And the rooms are perfect!"

As they walked towards the ship there was another explosion. They turned around there were tanks, but not just tanks there were six wheeled jeeps with turrets mounted on the back and in the skies were the same jets that had attacked Optimus and Silverbolt but with them were stealth jets that silently glided alongside them.

"Oh crap" Rattrap said again.

"Dammit! There's no way we could fight all of them, and if we tried to take off they would destroy us all before we could get off the ground!" Rhinox cursed.

Suddenly Megatron leaped into the vast legions shooting and slashing at every one of them.

"Megatron!" Optimus shouted, they might be enemies but no one deserved to die that way.

"Go! I'll hold them off! You must save Cybertron! GO!" Megatron yelled at them.

"Optimus, there's nothing we can do, it's his choice." Rhinox said, gently putting his hand on Optimus's shoulder.

Optimus lingered on the ramp for a moment before going into the ship. Shortly after the ship took off with, Rhinox acting as pilot with Rattrap acting as co-pilot.

Megatron watched while he was holding a tank drone by the throat.

"Fools!" Megatron smirked as he punched the drone in the face, crushing it.

* * *

"Entering the transwarp zone now." Rhinox said.

He pushed a button and the ship rocketed into another dimension that would propel them back in time, back to the dawn of man. It was there that they would find the protoforms. Optimus sat in his seat and sighed, he was looking out into empty space.

"Oh man, Optimus, are you still grieving over Megatron?" Rattrap asked.

"He gave his life to save Cybertron and buy us enough time to escape Rattrap. I can at least give him a moments silence." Optimus said

"Eh, the guy probably did it so that he could take it over, rather than those vehicle jerks."

* * *

Meanwhile back on Cybertron Megatron was fighting off the last of the drones. He had a jet drone cornered, it was motioning with it's hands for mercy, a silent plea. Megatron only grinned and raised his gun, freezing the drone in an icy prison. He looked up and saw the last of the drones fly off, getting reinforcements no doubt. Megatron smirked again

"Beast Mode!" He yelled out with his voice ringing out in the empty city.

He flew up and followed the drones, flying low to avoid their radars. When they landed he landed with them and followed them inside a large building. They walked up to a large podium, and sitting there were transformers of the same faction as the drones. They looked a lot like the drones but there were differences, they were taller for one thing, and they were different colours.

"You did not destroy the Maximals!" The one who looked like a tank drone snarled.

"And, you were followed." The one who looked like a jet drone said.

"Hmm, well you do have good radar." Megatron said smugly as he walked out of the shadows.

The jet drones all twirled around suddenly.

"What makes think we won't kill you right now!" Another one who looked like a tank drone sneered "Our drones could easily crush you!"

"Oh really?" Megatron said, raised his guns and fired obliterating the drones.

He confidently strode up to the second tank leader and picked him up. Megatron proceeded to beat him. When the leader was almost in stasis lock he dropped him on the ground and left him there.

"Does anyone else wish to fill his shoes?" Megatron asked, still with his confident smirk.

* * *

Ok, well, end of chapter one, hope you enjoyed it. Next chapter will have the Maximals returning to Earth, where the cast will explode dramatically. Now, before then, I have to ask you, the readers: Should Scorponok and Terrorsaur appear? Their bios stated that they did survive falling into lava, but there were trapped until the Beast Wars were over. Let me know in the reviews. And I do accept constructive criticism, especially regarding characters.


	2. Return to Earth

Well, here you have it, chapter 2 of New Beast Wars. Now, I do not own Beast Wars, Beast Machines, IDW comics, or any of its characters. I'm a little surprised that its been so well received so far, but, hey, that's great! Unfortunately, I haven't read the IDW Beast Wars comics, so any information about them was gained from the Transformers wiki or bios, again, sorry if anyone is ooc. Now, as promised, chapter 2, hope it doesn't disappoint.

* * *

The Maximals had landed on Earth they had begun searching for the Predacons that were still there: Inferno, Quickstrike and Waspinator. They had been unable to find them when they had left the planet so they could assume that they were still here, its not like they could just fly off the planet.

"Ugh! We've looked all over!" Rattrap complained sitting on a rock.

"Well not quite everywhere." Silverbolt said, he had been immersed in a CR chamber and was fully healed.

"Well then smart alec, where haven't we looked?" Rattrap asked.

"There's still the human settlement."

"You don't think that they've taken over the human settlement do you?" Cheetor asked, he was clearly worried, he was very good friends with two of them, Chak & Una.

"I'm afraid it's very possible Cheetor." Optimus said softly. "Beast Mode!" Cheetor transformed and raced off in the tribes direction.

"Cheetor wait! We need their help! Beast Mode!" Optimus yelled and turned into a truck.

* * *

The Maximals had arrived at the settlement. They were all relieved (especially Cheetor) to see that everything seemed normal. The humans saw the Maximals and rushed towards him. Jak and Una ran up to Cheetor and hugged his legs.

"Hey guys!" Cheetor said, he was ecstatic.

Optimus heard Silverbolt call out. "Uh, sir I think I just found Inferno and Quickstrike."

Optimus walked over and was shocked by what he saw. Near a large pile of rubble there were pieces of metal, Inferno and Quickstrike's heads among them.

"Damn it! We needed their help! Do you think the Humans did this?" Optimus asked Cheetor

"Uh I don't know, it was probably in self defence. Hey, wait a minute where's Waspinator?"

The group suddenly noticed that Waspinator's pieces weren't among the others.

"Maybe he escaped. The guy never was the bravest Predacon there was." Blackarachnia said.

"Well it's a possibility." Optimus said thoughtfully "In any case he may still be around here, so spread out and search. Wait, on second thought forget Waspinator lets just look for the stasis pods. Roll out!"

The group split up into two groups, Optimus, Rhinox and Rattrap were in one group while Cheetor, Silverbolt and Blackarachnia in the other. Group one went east while group two went west.

* * *

"Man Optimus those stasis pods could be anywhere! Hell, some of them of them might be out of them by now." Rattrap complained.

"Be that as it may we still need to find those protoforms!" Rhinox said.

"Wait a minute." Optimus said, raising his hand to silence the group "Do you hear that?"

Indeed they all heard strange noises, it sounded like…talking.

* * *

Meanwhile on the west side the others were also hearing strange noises. They crouched down and hid behind a large bush.

"When are we going to attack those Maximals Magmatron?" A loud and angry voice said

"As soon as the scouts return Iguanus, you idiot!" A powerful and booming voice retorted "We've been over this, we can't attack until we've assessed the situation!".

"Predacons." Blackarachnia whispered.

"But how?" Cheetor asked "All the stasis pods that landed on Earth contained Maximal protoforms. You would have to mess around with their shell programs to-"

"Waspinator!" The group whispered in anger.

He must have found the protoforms and changed their allegiance. Suddenly Cheetor felt a cold metallic object press against the back of his neck.

"Uh Silverbolt, Blackarachnia?"

"Yeah?" Silverbolt asked.

"Do you uh feel-"

"Yeah, yeah we do." Blackarachnia said apathetically.

"Reach for the zzzzzkies Maxxxximal zzzzzcum!" an annoying and droning voice said.

* * *

There were three of them and Cheetor was a little embarrassed when he noticed that they were all very badly injured. They marched the group out of the bushes and surprised the group of Predacons. Much to the groups distress there were a lot of them, but there was still no sign of Waspinator.

"Lord Magmatron" one of them said, he said the lord part in a very sarcastic and snide way. "We have discovered these Maximal spies. They were listening in on you."

The one known as Magmatron (a very tall individual indeed) walked up to them

"Very good Powerpinch now let us see which one of Razorbeast's lackeys you ar-" He suddenly looked shocked. "WHAT? Silverbolt! Cheetor! Blackarachnia! But, you left! How did you find us?"

"Accidentally." Silverbolt answered honestly. "We were looking for the stasis pods but I can see that Waspinator got to them before us!"

When Silverbolt mentioned Waspinator's name the entire group laughed.

"Waspinator? That idiotic weakling! You think he did all this?" Magmatron laughed uncontrollably "No, no no! We have been unable to find that fool, we suspect that he may have flown off planet shortly before we arrived."

The group was shocked, if Waspinator wasn't behind it then who was?

"I see that you are surprised." Magmatron smirked "Well then permit me to explain. We came to Earth looking for the stasis pods, we wanted to make them into Predacons. But unfortunately I was betrayed by my technical officer, Razorbeast. He was given the task of making them into my soldiers but instead he shielded them from my virus and took off with them in tow! I'm still hunting them down, which his why those three were away from us" He motioned towards the three who had captured them "They were out hunting for them and it would seem that the Maximals found them instead."

"Actually zirrrrr it wazzzzn't the Maxxxximalzzzzz, it was-" the one who looked like a mosquito said before he was cut off.

"I don't care who it was Transquito, the important thing is the you lost! If you hadn't found these losers then you would have severely regretted coming back!" He sighed "Where exactly did the attack take place?"

"In the swamp sir." The third one spoke for the first time.

"The Swamps!" Magmatron suddenly became angered. "Scourge! Insecticon!"

Instantly two terrified Predacons scampered over.

"Jerkzzzzz." Transquito said.

Magmatron began to speak again "You informed me that there was nothing in that area!"

"Yes lord Magmatron but-" One of them said before being cut off.

"You made the mistake of lying to me Insecticon! You will both be punished severely!" Magmatron turned back to the Maximals "Now my dear Maximals there's the important question of what to do with you."

Little did they know that high overhead and hidden in the bushes, there were spies.

* * *

Optimus, Rhinox and Rattrap were all hidden behind a large rock, they could hear the conversation but not be seen.

"When are we going to attack the Predacons Razorbeast!" An impatient voice said.

"Soon Torca, but we need to wait for the spies to get back before we mobilise."

They heard another voice "Yeah, assuming that you haven't just sent them to warn the Predacons!"

Then the second voice again "I am not a Predacon B'boom!"

"So you say."

"All right break it up!" A gruff voice commanded, he sounded like the kind of guy that beat up Predacons for the fun of it.

Suddenly Rattrap accidentally shifted and kicked a like of rocks.

"Who's there?" the fourth voice called out.

The second voice then said: "It came from behind that boulder! Torca get rid of it!"

"Beast Mode!"

Something smashed into the rock causing rocks to go flying as the rock exploded. Standing over the startled Maximals was a bizarre amalgamation of African elephant and killer whale.

"What the-?" the giant thing said, it was clearly startled by the people behind the rock. "Primal?"

"What?" The third person pushed himself in front of the thing. "It really is!"

While the first three stood in awe the fourth person moved all the others aside. "You left us here Primal!" He jabbed a finger at Optimus "You forgot about us and left us here to rot!"

"Show some respect Ramulus! He came back didn't he?" The third guy moved himself and stared Ramulus right in the eye.

"So what if he did B'boom? He still abandoned us here!"

The fighting attracted others. There was a whole group of Maximals most of them just stood there looking shocked. Suddenly two pushed themselves to the front, the first one looked shocked.

"Primal?" He just stood there looking like he had seen a ghost.

"Ravage!" Optimus cried and threw himself at the old Decepticon.

He looks different Optimus noted, he used to be black but now he was white with black stripes. Instantly the Maximals all pulled Optimus off Ravage.

"What are you doing? Let go of me! That's Ravage! He's a Decepticon! He betrayed me and the others when he came here!" Optimus struggled in the groups grip.

Ravage walked up to him "Not quite Optimus. You might not recognize me but it's me, Tigatron."

"Liar! Tigertron and Airazor were both kidnapped and reformatted into Tigerhawk by the Vok and then killed by Megatron!"

"No Optimus, after Megatron destroyed Tigerhawk our sparks floated back down to Earth, mine possessed Ravage's body while Airazor's found a blank Protorform."

"Prove it! Tell me something that only the real Tigertron could know!"

Ravage sighed and looked slightly embarrassed before answering. " I was once beaten in combat by…Waspinator."

The other Maximals who had all crowded around to hear all laughed uproariously.

"Tigatron!" Rhinox and Rattrap shouted.

"I'm sorry Tigatron." Optimus said, a little ashamed. "Its just that you-"

"Its fine Optimus." Tigatron said cutting him off. "Come, I'll show you the rest of the group. There's Torca, Ramulus, B'boom, K-9, Wolfgang, Razorbeast, Geckobot, Noctorro, Night glider, Prowl II, Sonar, Snarl, Bonecrusher, Optimus minor, Polar claw, Grimlock ("The Grimlock?") Claw jaw, Stink bomb, Armordillo, Air hammer and Packrat." They walked along as Tigatron introduced them all.

Optimus noted that Tigatron said the last name with contempt, he wondered why.

"And this" Tigatron said as he walked up to a winged, female Maximal "Is the new Airazor."

"Hello Optimus, its been a while."

"Nice to see you again Airazor." Optimus said, it felt strange, they had fought alongside each other and here she was again, but in a different, transmetal body.

Razorbeast stepped forward and addressed Tigatron and Airazor. "Tigatron, Airazor, what have you learned?"

"We have seen the Predacon base. They still haven't discovered our location, and it seems that three of their scouts have run into some difficulty, it sounded like they had run into a group of transformers, only they made it clear that they weren't Maximals or Predacons. Also they seem to have discovered two more protoforms and one of the Predacons under Megatrons rule, One of them seemed to have lots of spots, another looked like a fuzor, but we were too far to make it out, and the Predacon is called Blackarachnia." Airazor said.

"What?" Optimus suddenly yelled out startling the others.

"Tigatron the spotted one was Cheetor, he's been upgraded, the fuzor was Silverbolt, and Blackarachnia is now our ally!"

"She is?" Tigatron asked astonished.

Razorbeast then stepped in "Then if we don't find them, Magmatron will surely kill them or hold them for ransom. We haven't a moment to lose. "

"Maximals Beast Mode!" Optimus Prime shouted out, and all around him the group transformed, some of them took to the air while the smaller ones hitched rides on the larger ones.

* * *

The Predacons and group two were on the edge of the swamp.

"Now my dear Maximals, we will send you on a little trip. You'll be flushing out the savages, when they go to attack you, my men will be waiting to attack them, so you see I will be killing two birds with one stone!" Magmatron said, the joy evident in his voice.

"Any plans guys?" Cheetor asked.

"Nope."

"No."

"Damn." Cheetor said.

* * *

The Maximals burst into the Predacon base startling the guards.

"Maximals Maximise!" Razorbeast shouted out.

Torca easily picked up a Predacon who was in his way "Alright Sky-Shadow start squealing! Where did the Predacons go?"

"Ugh! The…swamps…" Sky-Shadow gasped out. "To the swamps Maximals, but lets take these Predacons with us." Razorbeast said.

* * *

The Maximals were all peering out from a clearing, they could see

the Predacons and the Maximals that they were looking for. Razorbeast stood at the front, Rattrap one side, Optimus one the other.

"Alright" Razorbeast said "Me, Optimus, Rattrap and Rhinox will go and attack them directly while Noctorro, Torca, B'boom and-"

"Beast Mode!"

The group turned just in time to see Torca burst through their cover and charge out into the open.

"Is he uh, is he always like that?" Rattrap asked as Razorbeast sighed and massaged his brow.

The entire group of Predacons turned and looked as Torca dashed towards them.

"Maximals! Predacons, open fire!" Magmatron yelled out.

The entire group of Predacons opened fire on Torca, three shots hit him but they all harmlessly ricochet off him. The group tried to scatter as he got within ramming distance but most of them were hit. They saw to their dismay that even more Maximals were pouring out of a clearing. The two groups immediately opened fire. Spittor tried to rise after being hit by Torca but was crushed underfoot by Grimlock, the moment he lifted it he crawled away, moaning in pain.

"Waitaminute! Where's Drill Bit and Scavenger?" Sonar asked Snarl, who merely shrugged.

Suddenly the ground underneath them just exploded. A giant boll weevil and tank with a drill came up and attacked the two. Drill Bit tried to bite Sonar but relented when she transformed into a bat and bit him back. Scavenger was winning his battle with Snarl who had transformed into a Tasmanian devil. Up in the air a squad of fliers attacked a bunch of winged Maximals.

On the ground Transquito, Spittor, Ravage, Powerpinch and Buzzsaw all hid behind a cluster of rocks, they were under heavy fire but whenever that fire ceased they would turn and fire.

"Dammit! I can't take off with all that fire!" Buzzsaw complained.

Suddenly the fire ceased again

"Let me zzzzhow you how a real Predacon getzzzzzz the job done!" Transquito boasted and leapt out from behind the rock, holding a huge array of weapons

"Oh crap." Rattrap said as he, B'boom, Geckobot, Snarl and Ramulus dived behind a boulder while Armordillo just stood there trapped like a deer in the headlights.

Transquito opened fire on the surprised Maximal.

"Beast Mode!" Armordillo cried out and turned into a large armadillo, managing to avoid Transquito's fire.

Suddenly a loud explosion shocked the battlefield and both factions turned to see where it had come from. On top of a ridge was a whole platoon of tank drones.

"Oh no!" Optimus yelled.

"Friends of yours?" Razorbeast asked.

"Anything but." Rattrap said.

"Bah! They are nothing compared to the might of my Predacons! Attack" Magmatron shouted out "Predacons Terrorise!"

They all ran forward firing into the drones. The tank drones however just transformed and attacked with their full fury, Sonar was hit right in the wing and she went crashing down into the dirt. Spittor leapt up at a tank drone, oozing venom, the tank drone suddenly started sparking and collapsed. He tried to leap at another one but was blown away mid leap, and he to went flying, he crashed into Iguanus and the two fell to the ground. Transquito meanwhile was dancing around wildly trying to avoid the fire.

"Should we help him?" Buzzsaw asked Ravage

"No, it's fun to see him on the receiving end of fire."

Shockrat was running around wildly knocking over Predacon and Maximal alike trying to escape from the explosions. Terrorgator, Retrax and Armordillo all hid in their protective casings. Frayctl, Scourge, Insecticon, Scarem, Sky Shadow, Lazorbeak, Buzzclaw and Manterror were trying to attack while also avoiding fire.

"Damn it!" Magmatron said staring at his overwhelmed troops.

"Magmatron!" Razorbeast called out "We need to combine forces to stop them!"

"Damn it!" Magmatron yelled out "I hate it when you Maximals are right! Predacons work with the Maximals!"

"But sir-" Drill bit tried to say before he was cut off.

"Don't question me Drill bit just do it!" Magmatron yelled.

Sky hammer, Geckobot, Noctorro, Night Glider and Prowl II all took to the air and helped the aerial Predacons, Buzzsaw joined them as they flew up. Optimus Minor and Armourdillo dragged Sonar and Spittor to safety and helped Iguanus to his feet. Optimus Primal, Rattrap and Rhinox all rushed towards Silverbolt, Blackarachnia and Cheetor and cut their Energon chains.

"Come on!" Optimus told the others "We need to help them!"

And with that the entire group leapt towards the fighting Optimus transformed into a truck and sped towards a large group of drones who fired at him, some shots hit him but he managed to shrug them off. Optimus suddenly sped up and rammed the drones, most of them were hit but one of them leapt out of the way and fired at Optimus.

"Optimus Primal, Maximise!"

Optimus transformed back into robot mode and leapt up, momentarily suspended he fired at the remaining drones, all of them were hit and the moment Optimus landed the lifeless bodies of the drones collapsed. From the corner of his eye Optimus saw Grimlock torch drones left and right with his fiery breath, while up in the air Buzzsaw sped through the skies at an amazing speed, firing on the drones down below, they tried to shoot back but they only hit his exhaust fumes. Ravage and Tigatron were working together to take down more opposition. Optimus ran towards a particularly large tank drone who easily swatted away Torca. He laughed in triumph and fired at groups of the allied Predacons and Maximals

"You can talk?" Optimus asked

"Of course I can. I am Tankor leader of the tank drones!"

"You will fall"

"We will see. Vehicle Mode!"

With that he transformed into a tank and fired. Ramulus, B'boom and Manterror were hit, with the latter skidding across the ground and slamming into a tree. He tried to aim at another group but Optimus Minor leapt at him and twisted the barrel of his cannon away so that it hit a legion of Tank drones.

"Tankor Pulverize!" He transformed again and threw Optimus minor away, he flew a few feet before hitting Ravage.

"This ends here." He said with all the menace he could muster.

"Not so fast Tankor!"

Tankor turned around and saw that all his drones were dead or dying and that he was surrounded by Magmatron and Razorbeast's forces. He growled and said

"This isn't over Maximals! I'll be back with more firepower! Vehicle Mode!" He transformed and sped off, they all backed away not wanting to stand in his way.

"There's going to be more of them, we need to get back to the ship, we have to leave and get back to Cybertron." Optimus said.

"Not so fast!" they all turned and saw Razorbeast "We're not going anywhere until you tell us what's going on!"

Optimus sighed "All right Razorbeast, you have the right to know, we'll tell you…"

Optimus told them the tale of how they had landed on Cybertron and found it deserted…well almost. They recalled how Megatron had sacrificed himself to allow them to escape and how they had landed on Earth, looking for the remaining Predacons and Protoforms.

"…And that's why we're here." Optimus finished. "We need help. Without it Cybertron is doomed and Tankor and the drones will rule all."

"All right we will help you." Razorbeast said. "Magmatron where do you stand?" Optimus turned and asked Magmatron.

"I don't want those arrogant drones to rule Cybertron. If anyone is going to rule Cybertron it's going to be me! Those drones are going to be OBLITERATED!" Magmatron yelled out, causing all the nearby birds to fly away in fright.

"Good." Razorbeast said "Now we will take our injured and move onward to Optimus' ship. Maximals Maximise!"

"Predacons Terrorize!" They all ran or flew towards the Maximals ship.

* * *

"Look! Up ahead!" Silverbolt cried out.

Up ahead were two Transformers, standing in front of the Maximal's ship. One was a transmetal pterosaur, while the other seemed to be some kind of hybrid tank and scorpion.

"Magmatron, do you know anything of this?" Razorbeast asked.

"No, they're not my soldiers."

The two Transformers turned when they heard the Maximals and Predacons.

"Scorponok, Terrorize!"

"Terrorsaur, raaawk, Terrorize!"

The two transformers reverted to robot mode, Optimus Primal and his forces stopped just short of them.

"Scorponok? Terrorsaur? Is that you?" Optimus asked, how could the two be alive, he thought that the two had perished early on in the Beast Wars.

"Optimus Primal?" Scorponok asked "Yes, it is us, we managed to escape from our fiery prison, and now we have returned to aid Megatron!"

"Uh…Scorponok? Megatron's dead." Rattrap said.

"What? How? When?" Scorponok said, he seemed shocked at the idea.

"After your imprisonment, we won the Beast Wars, and captured Megatron. But when we arrived on Cybertron, we found that it had been taken over by a new faction. Megatron gave his life to help us get help." Optimus said.

"Megatron…dead?" Terrorsaur asked "Hah! About time that sorry fool bit the dust!"

"Hold your tongue traitor! We must see this for ourselves" Scorponok said "So, we'll be taking your ship now!"

"What? You arrogant fool! Can't you see that you're greatly outnumbered?" Magmatron asked.

"Oh yeah? Just try it! I've got an explosive with me! You attack, and I blow us all to Primus!"

"What? Scorponok, you twit! I've only just been freed, I'm not going to die here!" Terrorsaur yelled at his partner.

"That's why I'm only going to use it if they attack us Terrorsaur, they'd die too if they tried!"

"I don't think so!" A new voice cried out.

Terrorsaur and Scorponok looked up, only to be knocked off their feet as a white blur flew at them.

"It can't be…Chopper face?" Rattrap asked, the shock evident in his voice.

"Indeed. I thought that I would be destroyed when the Nemesis was destroyed, but it seemed that I was granted a reprieve. I hid out in the wilderness. But when I saw these buffoons" Dinobot pressed his foot on Scorponok, causing him to groan "I followed them, in case they tried to do something…foolish."

"This is fantastic news! We are all happy to see you alive Dinobot. But as I'm sure you've heard, Cybertron is in peril. Will you join us? Optimus asked.

"To deny you would be dishonourable, of course I will join you Optimus."

"Thank you, my friend. We should move, we need to get to Cybertron as quickly as possible."

"Hey, Optimus, what about these two?" Cheetor asked, motioning to Scorponok and Terrorsaur.

"Bring them along, they can help us. I suspect Scorponok will be glad to help, after all, Megatron made the ultimate sacrifice for Cybertron."

* * *

They all boarded the ship and placed the injured in CR tanks. They took off and entered the Transwarp zone. Packrat, Rattrap, Buzzsaw and Rhinox where serving as pilots and co-pilots.

"How long until we reach Cybertron Rhinox?" Optimus asked.

"About two hours, Optimus, but I think-"

Suddenly an explosion rocked the ship they all turned to look out of the view screen and saw a small army of jets.

"Buzzsaw, Rattrap open fire on the drones!" Optimus shouted out.

The weapons located on the sides all sprang to life and began to blow away the drones. Suddenly however another explosion rocked the ship, the back this time. Shots were fired, drones were destroyed, sections of ship were blown away.

"Blast! We need more firepower! Vice Grip, Injector, Scourge, Manta Ray! Man the auxiliary guns, we'll show those drones not to mess with the Predacons!"

At once, the Predacons manned the turrets, with the additional firepower, the drones didn't stand a chance. Soon they were all wiped out, leaving only debris to float in space.

* * *

A couple of hours later the Maximal/Predacon alliance touched down on Cybertron. They had destroyed all the drones on the way their.

"Where do you suppose we go Optimus?" Powerpinch said in a very surly voice.

Optimus paused for a moment and then said "The sewers. We'll make a base in the sewers." He then walked off, his new soldiers in tow.

"The sewers eh?" Terrorgator said "Man I'll be right at home there."

* * *

Meanwhile at Megatron's base Tankor was standing in front of Megatron himself. He had just explained what had happened on Earth and Megatron was less than thrilled.

"So not only did you fail to kill the Maximals but you also allowed them to get a large number of reinforcements? You IDIOT! I send you and two hundred tank drones and you are the only one to return! Worse, with not a single Protoform to show for it!" He was quivering with rage.

"Sir if you'll allow me to try again-" Tankor started

"Yes you will! Because if you fail to destroy those Maximals, then I will destroy you myself! Drones, take Tankor to the med lab, we don't want him running on half power do we?"

four hovering medical drones appeared and escorted Tankor away, "One of these days "lord Megatron" I will pay you back." He whispered under his breath.

* * *

Ok, end of chapter two, I hope you enjoyed it. I hope the quality hasn't degraded. Again, feel free to offer me pointers about the characters. Sorry to disappoint any Waspinator fans who thought he'd be appearing here. I would like to say that, as with Beast Wars, characters will die, hell, originally, Sonar and Armordillo were going to be killed off, but for now, they're safe. New chapters will be up soon. Thanks for reading!


	3. Attacking the Source

Ok, Welcome to Chapter 3 of New Beast Wars. Again, I do not own Beast Wars, Beast Machines, IDW comics or any characters associated with them. As promised, another quick update, and again, I apologise if anyone is acting ooc. Remember, I do accept constructive criticism. Thank you, enjoy the story and please remember to review when you're finished!

* * *

The group had moved into a large cavern that was in the sewers. The scientists of the group were setting up scientifically equipment while the more adventurous ones were setting up an armoury and shooting range.

"Well we've set up a base, know what Big-bot?" Cheetor asked.

"We will try to find out the location of Tankor and the other drone generals."

"I say we try to find the location of the enemies drone factory." Magmatron said

"And how do you propose we find it?" Razorbeast asked

"Easy. We find someone who knows his way around Cybertron. Ravage!" Magmatron yelled out.

Instantly Ravage slinked towards them

"Yes, lord Magmatron?" he asked.

"We need you to discover the source of these meddlesome drones." Magmatron told him and Ravage nodded.

"I believe it can be done. I believe the most likely prospect is the pit."

"The pit?" Optimus asked and Ravage nodded again

"Yes, the pit. It is a Predacon factory, Megatron himself used it. However, to be sure I will check out the others."

"Excellent" Magmatron said "Go then."

Ravage walked off.

"Was it really wise to send him off on his own?" Razorbeast asked

"He works better on his own, besides we don't want to draw attention to ourselves."

* * *

A few hours later Ravage had returned looking triumphant.

"Good news lord Magmatron. I have successfully discovered the location of the drones factory."

"And?" Optimus asked.

"I was correct, it was the pit"

"Excellent. We will launch a pre-emptive strike immediately." Magmatron said, grinning triumphantly.

"Hold on Magmatron, we need to plan this out, figure out the best course of action." Optimus said.

"Bah! We should act before the drones have a chance to find for us!" Magmatron shot back, glaring at Optimus.

"Enough!" Razorbeast said "Magmatron, Optimus' is right, we need to plan things, we need to have an exit strategy. Ravage are their any sewage drains that go past the factory?"

"Yes, there are."

"Then we shall plan our battle." Optimus said.

* * *

After even more hours of waiting the leaders announced that they had a plan.

"We have worked it out." Razorbeast said "We shall move through this pipe here" He motioned to a pipe that was on a map "Where Tigatron, Lazor Beak and Airazor will stay behind to make sure no one tries to block our escape route while the rest of us spread out and create a distraction outside the base. From there, Snapper, Ravage, Blackarachnia, Fractyl, K-9, Wolfgang and Bantor will enter the factory and make their way to the command centre of the factory. Making quick work of the guards they will enter the command centre, posting K-9 and Wolfgang outside as guards. Then Snapper and Fractyl will hack into the factory's database getting any useful information they can find while simultaneously disabling the factory. When they're done the others will then destroy the consoles to make sure that they cannot be repaired and rebooted, remember, we need those consoles down for good, so don't hold back. The info force will then pull back and signal the others of their arrival, preparing us for a quick exit. We then make a retreat back into the sewers, hopefully without encountering any more resistance as we leave. Once we get back it's only a matter of decoding the data. Any questions?" Razorbeast finished.

"All right Maximals, transform and rollout!"

"Predacons, move out! Lets Terrorize!"

* * *

They had reached the exit to the pipe, Lazor Beak, Tigatron and Airazor stayed behind as planned. Ravage snuck a look from under the manhole cover.

"There are twenty of them. All tank drones. There is no way for us to all get out and live."

"Damn!" Optimus stood where he was, thinking for a moment "All right, I think I have an idea. Grimlock you go out first, then quickly transform, you should be able to take them all down with no trouble." Optimus said, turning to the old Autobot

"Me Grimlock do it!" he leapt up through the manhole, almost crushing Ravage against the side of the pipe. "Transform!"

They heard him call out, seconds later they also heard explosions and crushing noises.

"Me Grimlock say coast clear."

"All right, Maximals, Predacons, lets move out before any more troops show up, they're almost certain to have security systems that would have seen that." Razorbeast said.

They all quickly clambered up through the manhole and the team that was sent to infiltrate the factory ran towards it. They saw B'boom place explosive charges around the door and then heard a loud explosion. The group charged with storming the factory rushed into the factory and were lost from sight.

Down below Tigatron, Airazor and Lazor Beak were waiting, somewhat impatiently for the others to finish.

"Ugh! I can't stand all this waiting! I should be out there, stretching my wings! I can scrap a drone as well as Magmtron or Razorbeast! Maybe better with this little baby" Lazor Beak complained, patting his weapon.

"I wouldn't mind stretching my wings either." Airazor said wistfully.

"Well even though I agree with you and want to get up there, but Optimus assigned us a task and we should stick to it." Tigatron said.

Suddenly they heard a noise echoing through the tunnels.

"Do you hear tha-" Airazor began to ask before a shell pierced through her, damaging her circuitry.

"AIRAZOR!" Tigatron yelled out in horror while Lazor Beak just stood there staring in horror, paralysed by shock. Suddenly another shot rang out and Lazor Beak went flying as well, bouncing against the wall opposite of him. Two large drones in vehicle mode drove through the tunnel

"Well, well well, look what we have here!" the six wheeled drone said.

The tank drone just stood there for a few seconds before saying in shock "Ravage?"

"Not quite Vehicon scum!" Tigatron yelled out dashing towards the drones, claws extended.

The group up top heard a loud explosion below them and suddenly Tigatron flew up through the manhole.

"Tigatron!" Cheetor cried running towards his fallen friend.

Optimus and the others soon joined him.

"I'm sorry Optimus, two drone generals...took out Airzor and Lazor Beak…blew me away." At this he fell silent.

"Rhinox!" Optimus yelled out and Rhinox raced over. "Is he going to make it Rhinox?"

"I don't know Optimus, he's in pretty bad shape."

Suddenly more explosions rang out and more manholes burst up. Drones suddenly burst through the sewer pipes fully armed. There were tank and six wheel drones. To make matters worse, they heard droning sounds in the sky and they all craned their necks towards the source of the noise and saw the attack jets bearing down on them.

"ATTACK! For the glory of Megatron!" Scorponok yelled out.

"Magmatron separate!" Optimus heard Magmatron yell out and suddenly he split into three different Predacons

"Skysaur!"

"Seasaur!"

"Landsaur!"

Skysaur flew up and the flying transformers followed. Seasaur and Landsaur led the others into battle while Rhinox just stared their for a minute. He looked down at Tigatron for a minute and then scooped him up and ran the other way.

"Beast Mode!" Optimus cried out and went into gorilla mode. He rushed towards a tank drone and smashed into it, toppling it over. Another one shot at him but he deflected it with ease, sending the blast toward a horde of drones, while its gun was cooling Optimus rushed it and ripped its barrel off. "Flight Mode!" He cried again and went into plane mode, he zoomed off into the sky and began firing at the aerial drones, blasting many and sending their flaming corpses spiralling to the ground. He then pulled into a nosedive, then pulled up sharply before he hit the ground and began shooting the drones there.

"Show off." Landsaur muttered as he hit a six wheeled drone.

Soon he found himself back to back with Razorbeast. They pulled out their guns and began firing wildly in an attempt to lengthen the distance between them and the drones.

"Heh, not bad for a Maximal!" Landsaur sneered

"Well if not for this Maximal then those drones would have killed you!" Razorbeast countered.

Razorbeast could see the others were also deeply engaged in battle. Bonecrusher was ramming as many drones as he could, oblivious to the shots that were being fired at him. As usual, Torca was charging with reckless abandon, he was lucky not to have hit an ally yet. Powerpinch seemed to be giggling whenever he decapitated a drone with his claw, an act which repulsed Razorbeast. Dinobot II and Rattrap were working together to take out as many drones as possible. Razorbeast admired their teamwork, not many of his men were as good when they worked together.

The battle raged on for a while with no side showing any signs of victory.

"Dammit, I hope they get back here soon!" Cheetor said as he shot at a six wheel drone.

Suddenly the Maximals and Predacons who entered the factory rushed out

"MOVE!" B'Boom yelled out and instantly the Maximals and Predacons all jumped down the sewers.

The drones began to run toward the hole but at that moment the factory exploded and the majority of the drones were vaporised.

* * *

Later, back at the base the group was putting their injured in the CR chambers that they had ripped from the ship and began discussing.

"Well, what did you find out?" Optimus Primal asked.

"We discovered that the Vehicons have set up a prison for any survivors and…well, they melt them down and use their remains to make more drones." Fractyl said.

Optimus Primal was horrified

"What? But that's awful!" He exclaimed.

"Yeah, well what can we do about it?" Packrat asked

"We can rescue them!" Optimus snapped, growing increasingly annoyed with Packrat and his cowardice.

"I doubt it" Ravage said with a shrug "After we broke into their factory they will have undoubtedly updated their security."

"But we cannot simply leave them!" Rhinox exclaimed.

" Rhinox is right." Silverbolt added"It would be dishonourable and shameful to allow all those innocents die."

"We're going whether anyone will help us or not." Cheetor said.

"Fine, we will go with you, Magmatron, can we count on you and your soldiers?" Razorbeast asked.

"Fine, we could use some more troops as well." Magmatron said absently with a slight wave on his hand.

"What about Tigatron, Airazor and Lazor Beak?" Torca asked.

"We'll leave them here." Optimus said. "Well lets go. Maximals Maximise!"

* * *

On prehistoric Earth, Tankor was leading a number of tank drones in a search for the Maximals and their new Predacon allies. "Slag! Where can those pathetic weaklings be?" Tankor asked himself.

Suddenly, he doubled over in pain.

"Argh! What's happening to me?" Tankor cried out.

To Tankor's astonishment, a hologram of Megatron's head appeared in front of him.

"Impressed? I had the medical drones implant a little present inside your circuitry. It prevents any acts of insubordination…or allows me to shock you whenever I feel you deserve it, now for instance." Megatron explained.

"But-urk! Why?"

"Because you simpleton, the Maximals are no longer on Earth, they have returned to Cybertron, not only that, but they have destroyed the Pit and gained information that could be quite harmful to us. You have failed me again Tankor."

"But how could I have known they would return to Cybertron?"

"Wretched fool! How do you think the Maximals got to Earth? They had a ship, and now they've used it to bring reinforcements! Return to Cybertron immediately, I am allowing you to live, for now at least. End transmission." And with that, Megatron's image vanished with a brief flicker and the pain that Tankor was experiencing along with it.

"You heard him men! Make for the ship! We're returning to Cybertron, and this time there will be no failures! We are going to destroy those Maximals, once and for all!" Tankor yelled, and all around him, his tank drones raised their fists.

* * *

End of Chapter 3. Sorry that this one's a little shorter than the rest. I hope you enjoyed it and again, hope there hasn't been any loss of quality. Another update soon, thank you for reading!


	4. A Daring Rescue!

Well, here we have it, New Beast Wars, chapter 4. As usual, I do not own Beast Wars, Beast Machines, IDW comics or any characters associated with Transformers. Again, I would like to state that I accept constructive criticism, and I apologize if anyone acts ooc. Enjoy the story and don't forget to leave a review when you're done!

The Maximals and Predacons arrived at the prison and began staring at it intently.

"Well, it looks like it's been heavily fortified. Guards, turrets, a ridiculously deep trench on one side and barbed wire fences." Torca observed.

"Just how deep is that trench anyway?" Cheetor asked.

"Deep enough to prevent whatever's unfortunate to fall in it never comes back up lad."

"It looks like a surprise attack would be the wisest choice of action." Ramulus said, stroking his chin.

"Yes, some of us should go on one side, another group on the other side, and another group on the last remaining side." Drill Bit said.

"Very well then. Onward!" Optimus cried out to his forces, who took their cue and began splitting up into three separate groups, and once they were in position, began their attack on the prison.

Optimus Primal's group began their approach on the left side of the building. There was little cover so they all rushed out at once.

"Attack!" One particularly trigger happy Predacon cried out.

Optimus saw the soldiers under Razorbeast and Magmatron's command begin their attacks as well. Torca quickly ripped through the drones who were in his path, before breaking through the fence and charging the building itself. Terrorsaur was leading an aerial assault on the drones, making good use of their speed while doing so. Polar Claw was ripping through any opposition that crossed his path, while Packrat hid behind Terragator, Bantor and Transquito, who were doing all the fighting for him. With a single sweep of his mighty tail, Grimlock sent a number of tank drones flying over the edge of the trench, sending them plummeting to the doom. B'boom meanwhile, was lobbing explosives left and right, decimating the prison's turrets and security forces.

The few tank drones that were left were quickly being overwhelmed by the superior attack force and soon, none were left. Once the fighting was over, Optimus approached Magmatron and Razorbeast.

"I don't like this, it was too easy." Optimus said.

"I agree, we should be prepared for a counterattack." Razorbeast replied.

At that moment, Torca finished demolishing the western side of the building, allowing the prisoners who were kept inside to escape.

"Maximals?!" A surprised and very familiar voice cried out in shock.

"Oh no!" Blackarachnia exclaimed, for the voice belonged to one of her least favourite people: Waspinator.

"Optimus Primal? Doggy bot? The rest?" Waspinator asked, cautiously approaching them.

Optimus sighed "Yes Waspinator, it's us." He said in an exasperated tone of voice.

"But why you help Waspinator? Maximals hate Waspinator! Universe hates Waspinator! Everybody hates Waspinator!"

"Because thing have changed. The very people who have captured you have also managed to capture Cybertron. Say, how did you managed to reach Cybertron anyway? We thought that you were trapped back on prehistoric Earth." Optimus asked.

"After Waspinator was blasted to scrap by Two-Head and Ant-Bot, Waspinator rebuilt self and was worshipped by Humans. At first, everything seem alright for Waspinator, Waspinator finally happy. But then, one day, Waspinator took stroll and from out of nowhere, Tank bots leap out at Waspinator! Next thing Waspinator knows, Waspinator is in prison cell with grouch Copter-Bot!"

"Copter-Bot?" Cheetor asked.

"The name is Rotorbolt to you, junior!"

The Maximals turned to see a tall transformer walking towards them. Unlike the others, he did not seem to have any organic or transmetal components. He seemed to be entirely mechanical, indicating that he did not have a beast mode.

"Rotorbolt?" Cheetor repeated.

"Yes! Rotorbolt! Are you deaf and stupid! Oh great, first I get reformatted into this hideous drone body, then they put me in a cell with this dunce" Rotorbolt motioned to Waspinator, who seemed oblivious to the insult "Then they try to extract my spark and now I'm stuck with a group of idiot Maximals! Could my day get any worse?"

"Wait, did you just say they reformatted you into a drone?" Silverbolt asked.

"Yeah, they melted down my old body, reformatted me into a Copter Drone and then they tried to extract my spark. Luckily for me, you showed up and destroyed the prison before they could do that could happen...so thank you...I guess."

Optimus looked at Rotorbolt's body and noted that he bore the Vehicon insignia. _That will have to be removed_, Optimus thought

"Well Rotorbolt, it looks like this day didn't turn out so bad after a-"

Optimus was interrupted when he heard a loud explosion. He turned, just in time to see Drill Bit go flying, bouncing on the ground once, before plunging head first into the trench.

"Drill Bit!" Vice Grip cried out, horrified to see his comrade suffer such a fate.

All present turned to see a huge number of tank and jet drones were approaching.

"RETREAT!" Terrorsaur cried out, before converting to his jet mode and rocketing away at dizzying speeds.

"As Much as I hate cowardice, I would have to agree with that bird brained freak!" Magmatron said.

Instantly, Maximals, Predacons and prisoners all converted into their alt modes and began their escape.

Rattrap was speeding along the streets in his vehicle mode when he heard someone cry out

"Argh! I'm hit!"

Rattrap turned to see Buzzsaw slam into the ground as the tank drones bore down on him.

"Oh man, I just know I'm gonna regret this! Maximise!" Rattrap cried out, before turning and running towards the injured Buzzsaw. He picked him up and began running in the opposite direction of the drones.

"W-why would you help me, Maximal?" Buzzsaw asked weakly.

"Well believe it or not, bug boy, but we're on the same team now, Maximal and Predacon alike." Rattrap said as he ran off with Buzzsaw in his arms.

"Optimus!" Razorbeast cried out "I think we need to split up! It'll give us a greater chance to evade or pursuers!"

"I believe he's right Optimus!" Rhinox yelled out to his commander.

"Alright, fine, we'll do that then! Maximals! Predacons! We need to split up if we are to have any chance of getting out of this alive!"

At this, the Maximal/Predacon alliance began splitting off into separate streets. This confused the drones, who did not know who to follow. After a full minute of thinking, the drones decided that they too should split up. However, by this time, the Maximals and Predacons had gained quite a distance between themselves and their enemy . High overhead, the jet drones began searching the city.

"I think we lost them!" Optimus told Rhinox and Magmatron, while running alongside them in beast mode.

"Not quite, Maximal scum!" A voice from above cried out "Jetstorm, Afterburn!"

Optimus and his group looked up to see a jet drone transform into robot mode.

"Another drone general!" Optimus exclaimed.

"Correct my Maximal friend! My name is Jetstorm, remember it well, for it is the name that shall spell your doom!"

"Well I don't know how to tell you this "Jetstorm" but it would seem that you are outnumbered!" Magmatron taunted, only to be surprised when a dozen tank drones rolled in from nearby streets.

"It would seem that I am no longer outnumbered! Now, surrender, and I may grant you a quick death!"

"Not in your life, Vehicon!" Optimus cried out.

With that, Optimus leapt towards nearby building. Momentarily forgetting Magmatron and Rhinox, the drones opened fire on Optimus. As Optimus run up the side of the building, pieces of it exploded under the fire of the tank drones. Managing to expertly doge every shot, Optimus continued running. Suddenly, he transformed into a jet, and flew straight up.

"Eh?" Jetstorm said, puzzled.

Jetstorm's puzzlement turned into horror, when he saw that the tank drones shot had caused the building to become unstable, even now it was beginning to collapse. He turned his gaze to where Magmatron and Rhinox had been only seconds before, only to see that they had fled when the opportunity arose.

"No!" Jetstorm cried out, as the building collapsed, falling towards him. "Vehicle mode!" Jetstorm cried out, managing to transform and escape his fate moments before the building collapsed on top of the building.

However, the shockwave sent him flying, knocking him into the side of a building. Jetstorm could only groan, as Magmatron, Primal and Rhinox ran past him towards their freedom. _Megatron is going to kill me for this_, Jetstorm thought, before passing out.

Back in the Maximal's base, the Maximals and Predacons were examining the prisoners. While a great deal of them were unarmed civilians, a small percentage of them were soldiers.

"All right, let's have a show of hands, how many of you are soldiers?" Dinobot asked.

Waspinator's hand shot up.

"Anyone at all?"

"Oh move aside!" a female voice said, pushing several people out of the way. "Name's Antagony, and I can handle a weapon better than all these weaklings combined."

"Good, any others?"

Slowly, hesitantly, several others stepped forward.

"Name's Sling."

"They call me Cohrada."

"I'm Longrack." A particularly tall Maximal said.

It was clear that his beast mode was a giraffe, its long neck protruded from his right shoulder.

"A giraffe? What good's a giraffe?" Rattrap questioned.

"Beast Mode!"

Waspinator found out the answer the hard way when Longrack transformed and kicked him hard enough to dislodge his head from his shoulders.

"Why Universe hate Waspinator?"

And so we come to the end of Chapter 4. As with the last chapter, I apologize for it being shorter than the rest. My update time may be a little later from now on, but hopefully not too much later. I hope I satisfied any Waspinator fans with his return and I hope you enjoyed the chapter. Remember, please review when you're done. Thanks for reading!


	5. Bugnapped!

Well, welcome to chapter 5 of New Beast Wars. As usual I do not own Beast Wars, Beast Machines, IDW comics or any characters associated with Transformers. Sigh, I'm getting tired of saying that. Anyway, again I apologize if any character acts ooc, I'm no expert on characters introduced in the comics, or Beast Machines. Enjoy the story and please remember to review when you're done.

* * *

Optimus Primal looked at the group of civilians that he and his allies had recently rescued from a Vehicon prison. Most had haggard and scared looks, and Optimus couldn't really blame then. If not for the actions of he and his men, then they would have been melted down and converted into Vehicon drones.

"Alright, let me start by telling you the plan." Optimus began, facing the Cybertronian refugees "We have a plan to safely remove you from Cybertron. Razorbeast?"

"Ahem, yes, we plan to steal a number of escort shuttles from the nearby wrecking yard. From there, the technical experts of the group will attempt to repair them, and if rendered operational, will allow all of you to be quickly and safely transported to the nearby shipyard. A number of us will be acting as escorts to ensure your safety. When we arrive at the shipyard, you will be escorted to the nearest ships, where the soldiers who have volunteered will pilot you to the nearest colony planet, where you will be able to alert any Maximal-"

"Or Predacon." Retrax interjected.

"Yes _or Predacon _forces to Cybertron's current situations. Will the volunteer's step forward?" Razorbeast concluded.

Three transformers stepped up, they were Sling Cohrada and Longrack.

"Er, yes well, we have volunteered to escort you to safety, rest assured, we are all highly qualified pilots who will do our best to ensure your wellbeing." Longrack said, clearly uncomfortable with public speaking.

"Will the following soldiers please report to the armoury and prepare for salvage duty" Razorbeast said, gently pushing Sling away from the podium, he seemed unwilling to move. "Rattrap, Silverbolt, Blackarachnia, Waspinator, Vice Grip, Antagony, Terrorsaur, Bantor, Razorclaw and Wolfgang."

* * *

"Rawk! This isn't fair! I should be on one of those ships, I'm the best pilot here!" Terrorsaur complained.

"Which is why we need you here" Optimus reminded him " We may need your skills later. Besides, when this is all over, there will be commendations for all those who helped rescue Cybertron"

"Really?" Terrorsaur asked, he no longer seemed argumentative, only enthralled by the prospect of a commendation.

"Oh yes. Think of it, they'll sing tales of "Terrorsaur, the hero who liberated Cybertron!". They'll write stories of you, erect statues!"

"Well then, maybe I will stay, er, for the good of Cybertron of course."

"Of course" Optimus said, smiling, Cheetor could barely keep from laughing "Now, go help the others salvage anything flyable, all heroes start small."

As soon as Terrorsaur left Cheetor burst out laughing "Wow, you really had him there Optimus. You've got a tongue of pure silver!"

"Actually, I think Terrorsaur's just very, very gullible."

* * *

Silverbolt was walking down the corridor when he saw Vice Grip. He seemed quiet, in fact, he had been quiet since the prison break.

"Excuse me, Vice Grip?"

Vice Grip turned and looked at Silverbolt.

"Oh, hello Maximal, I suppose you'll be looking for any salvageable shuttles as well?"

"Yes, but I wanted to talk to you, you seem very withdrawn since we rescued those prisoners. You should be happy, aren't you?"

"Oh, yes, I am, its just...well, we lost Drill Bit during that mission."

Realization dawned on Silverbolt.

"I see, you're sad because you lost a friend."

"Not friends exactly, but he was a fellow Predacon, a comrade."

"I know how you feel. During the Beast Wars, I lost friends too. Tigerhawk, Depth Charge, Transmutate, even Quickstrike and Inferno were friends...or at least they used to be, before Megatron found them."

"Ah, I'm sorry, I suppose we've all lost someone at some point, I only wish-"

Vice Grip was interrupted when a huge Predacon leapt out at him, spikes jutting out of its head, mouth open in a grimace.

"Ahhhh!" Silverbolt and Vice Grip cried out.

Suddenly, they heard laughter.

"Oh man, that was priceless!"

"Rattrap?" Silverbolt exclaimed.

It was indeed Rattrap, holding onto a stick that had Rampage's severed head balanced on the top.

"Yeah, man I got you two lovebirds good!"

Silverbolt was momentarily puzzled by Rattrap's statement, before looking down and seeing that he was holding Vice Grip in his arms, and vice versa. When both noticed, they quickly let go, embarrassed.

"W-why do you have that?" Silverbolt asked, referring to Rampage's head, more than slightly disturbed.

"Eh, collecting Pred parts is what I do best. Wanna see my collection of Waspinator parts?"

"No!"

"Ok, ok, sheesh, no sense of humour this one!" Rattrap muttered.

"I apologize for Rattrap's tasteless sense of humour." Silverbolt said.

"Think nothing of it, Powerpinch has a similar attitude, although he at least has the excuse of being insane."

* * *

When the Maximals and Predacons reached the junkyard, Terrorsaur took no time in assuming command.

"Faster slowpokes! The quicker we get this done, the quicker reinforcements can arrive, and I can get my commendation! Just think, medals, statues, the love and adoration of the entire female population of Cybertron! They'll worship me!" His self indulgent tirade was cut short when Waspinator threw a piece of metal at his head.

"Oh shut up! Waspinator sick of hearing Terrorsaur talk about Terrorsaur!"

"Hey, you can't boss me around! You're not even a Transmetal!"

"Since when does being shiny mean being leader?"

"Shut up Waspinator!"

"Both of you can shut up!" Antagony yelled the two "Imbeciles." She muttered.

* * *

In another part of the junkyard, Silverbolt, Blackarachnia and Vice Grip were searching for anything that could be used as transportation.

"Found anything yet?" Blackarachnia asked.

"Not yet my love."

"Silverbolt! Don't call me that in front of the Pred!"

"Yes dear..."

"Or that!"

"Eh?" Vice Grip suddenly noticed something out of the corner of his eye. He thought he heard a noise over a nearby ridge made out of junk. He spared a brief glance at Silverbolt and Blackarachnia, who seemed to be talking in private. _They probably wouldn't notice if I went over there_ Vice Grip thought to himself.

"Beast mode" he whispered, and transformed into a large, organic earwig.

He silently began scurrying over the trash heap, looking for the source of the noise. _I don't see anything, maybe it came from further over there. _Vice Grip crawled further into the junkyard, no longer able to hear Blackarachnia and Silverbolt.

"Well look, if it isn't a little bug! Why don't we capture it, Blastcharge?"

Vice Grip turned, too late, to see two Vehicon Generals standing behind him. One of them threw an energon net at him. Vice grip struggled to break free, but his attempts only caused him to become tangled further into the net.

"Argh! Terrorize!" Vice Grip cried out, only to find that he was still in beast mode.

"Surprised? That energon net will keep you stuck in beast mode until we choose to remove you from it." One of the drones said, he vaguely resembled Tankor, but with a different colour scheme.

"Yeah! We're gonna put you in a world of hurt bug boy!" The other drone said

"Quiet Blastcharge! I thought we agreed that I would do the talking? I am the smart one after all!"

"Since when Quake?"

"Try counting to ten."

"Er...one...two...seven?"

"Exactly! Now shut up and help me get the bug back to base!"

"You won't get away with this!" Vice Grip said "My allies are close by, they will find me!"

"Not likely, in a few moments, they'll be facing the full force of the tank drones!" Quake gloated.

"And the jeep drones!"

"Yes, and the jeep-Blastcharge! What did I say?"

* * *

Meanwhile, Silverbolt had finally noticed that Vice Grip was no longer with them.

"Vice Grip? Blackarachnia, did you see where he went?"

"Never mind that now Silverbolt, I think we have bigger problems now!"

Silverbolt turned to see a number of tank and six wheeled drones.

"Oh slag!"

* * *

In another part of the junkyard, Terrorsaur heard a loud explosion.

"What was that? Waspinator, go check it out!" Terrorsaur ordered

"Why Waspinator have to go? Why not you Terrorsaur, or new Ant-Bot?"

"Because I'm in charge here and I saw that you have to go!"

Waspinator flew off, mumbling curses under his breath. Suddenly however, he was blown out of the sky, when a shell exploded near him. Terrorsaur yelped when he saw his friend make a sudden crash landing.

"E-enemies! Antagony, take care of them!" Terrorsaur cried out, only to see Antagony run off as drones began ploughing through the scrap.

"You're on your own bird brain!"

Terrorsaur looked at the drones, then at Waspinator before returning his sights to the drones.

"Oh...slag!" He said as he flew down to Waspinator and picked him up with his talons. "This is Terrorsaur, Bantor come in!"

"Terrorsaur? Me and Razorclaw need help! We've been ambushed by drones!" Bantor replied, before letting loose a screech which pierced Terrorsaur's sound system.

"What? You too? Wolfgang! Report Wolfgang!"

"This had better be good beak face! I'm up to my optics in drones here!"

Terrorsaur paled, this was getting worse by the minute.

"Vice Grip? Silverbolt? Blackarachnia? Come in...Please?"

"Terrorsaur, we need backup ASAP! We're surrounded and we've lost both visual and audio contact with Vice Grip! Please respond!" Silverbolt cried into his radio. _This is too much, _Terrorsaur though, _I'm in way over my head._

"Er...try to break away and converge on my location! I'll send a flare!" Terrorsaur spoke on all frequencies.

"A flare? Wait don't-!" Wolfgang cried out, too late to stop Terrorsaur, who had just launched a flare into the air, alerting the rest of the drones to his presence.

"Argh! Alright, Maximals! Predacons! Converge on Terrorsaur's location!" Bantor said, _This is getting out of hand, I don't know if we can handle all of this_.

* * *

Meanwhile, Quake and Blastcharge had taken Vice Grip back to their base. They were surprised to see the general of the motorcycle drones, Thrust, was there.

"Thrust? What are you doing here? You know this sector is under our control!" Quake asked the smaller Vehicon.

"Megatron wants to speak with you, he wants to know why you two idiots sent all those drones to the junkyard without his authorization." Thrust replied, despite his size, he seemed to be in complete control of the situation, as opposed to either the much larger Quake or Blastcharge.

"We captured the Predacon Thrust! Look!" Blastcharge eagerly stated, holding up the net which contained Vice Grip, who could only groan, the energon net seemed to be draining him of his energy and he was completely oblivious to his surroundings.

"Quiet Blastcharge!" Quake ordered.

Thrust seemed surprised "You two captured a Predacon?"

"Yeah, we did! All by ourselves too!"

"Shut up Blastcharge!"

"Interesting, it seems that you two are not completely useless after all. I have to report this to Megatron." Thrust began to turn away.

"Not so fast Thrust! We know you're plan! You're going to take credit for our capture!" Quake accused.

"Don't be so petty. I am above such foolish matters, I merely wish to report this to Megatron!"

"You can't fool us Thrust! We know what you're up too! We'll go with you too!"

"Fine, one of you will have to watch the prisoner then."

"Oh no! We'll both go! If I let Blastcharge go with you, he'll just screw it up! And if I go and order Blastcharge to stay here, he'll probably slip up and let the prisoner escape!"

"If you two are so adamant about this, then I think we should execute the prisoner, if we all go then he'll probably escape, those energon nets only have a lifespan of a few hours."

"No way Thrust! He's our prisoner and we'll do what we want to do with him! We can get from here to Megatron's citadel before the net dissolves!" Quake continued, _There's no reasoning with some people,_ Thrust thought sadly.

"Fine, but if he escapes, then I'm not taking the blame for this one! Lets go! Vehicle Mode!" At that, Thrust transformed and sped off.

"Hey, wait for us! Vehicle Mode!" Quake and Blastcharge drove off, in close pursuit of Thrust.

* * *

Back at the junkyard, the battle was going badly for the Maximal/Predacons. Waspinator was out of it and Vice Grip and Antagony were nowhere to be seen.

"Slag!" Bantor said, as a shot scraped his shoulder.

He did not know how much longer they could hold out, there were so many of them!

"Hold in there!" Blackarachnia said, slinging webs at as many drones as possible, while Terrorsaur and Silverbolt carried out the role of air support.

"Blast! Where is Vice Grip?" Silverbolt asked as he shot more missiles at the drones.

"Never mind that now Maximal! We have bigger fish to fry!" Terrorsaur reminded him, as he shot down another drone "Slag! There's no end to them!"

Suddenly, a grenade flew over a nearby ridge. It exploded at the feet of a number of drones, decimating them. All eyes turned to find the source.

"Vice Grip!" Silverbolt exclaimed.

"Indeed! Now, we must flee, quickly! More will show up soon!" Vice Grip said.

"I don't need to be told twice! Let's get out of here!" Terrorsaur said, stopping only to pick up Waspinator, who he had hid behind a pile of scrap to protect him from enemy fire.

* * *

When the Maximals and Predacons returned to base, Silverbolt turned to Vice Grip.

"Where did you go? We all assumed that the drones had destroyed you?"

"They almost did" Vice Grip admitted "Two drone generals captured me in an energon net, and took me to their base. The net drained my power, but then, it just seemed to dissolve. I took the opportunity to escape, and just in time it seems."

"Yes, we're all glad that you arrived when you did." Silverbolt said.

"I-I especially Vice Grip" Terrorsaur said "You saved all of us...I-I thank you."

"Humility from Terrorsaur?" Blackarachnia said in mock surprise "The world must be ending!"

* * *

Meanwhile, at Blastcharge and Quake's base, the two were leading Thrust and Megatron to the place where they had left Vice Grip.

"He's right here Megatron!" Quake said triumphantly.

"I don't see anything Quake! Is this a joke?" Megatron asked angrily.

"What? I assure you Megatron that we-!" Quake turned and saw that all that there was in the room was a puddle of dissolved energon. "Oh no!"

Thrust slapped his forehead with the palm of his hand "What did I friggin' say would friggin' happen?"

* * *

And there you have it, the end of chapter 5 of New Beast Wars. I rather like this one as it focuses on Terrorsaur and Vice Grip. I hope you enjoyed it too, and please remember to write a review! Thank you, and thanks for reading!


	6. Inspiration, Courage and Blackmail

Welcome once again to another chapter of New Beast Wars, and once again, I do not own Beast Wars, Beast Machines, IDW comics or any characters associated with Transformers (but wouldn't that be cool?). I apologize if anyone acts ooc and would like to remind people that I am open to constructive criticism. Don't forget to write a review when you're done. On to the story!

In the Maximal/Predacon base, Optimus Primal was furious. Waspinator, freshly out of a CR chamber after his latest "accident" had informed him that Antagony had abandoned him and Terrorsaur when confronted with a legion of tank and jeep drones while searching for any salvageable vehicles in a nearby wrecking yard.

"What were you thinking?! Terrorsaur could have been killed! Waspinator nearly was, because you were too scared to fight!"

"Hey, I wasn't scared, I just wasn't willing to die for those two losers!" Antagony said, what infuriated Optimus most was that she seemed so relaxed about this.

"Like it or not Antagony, we are all on the same side, and we must put aside our differences and work together!"

"I don't take orders from a Maximal, especially not some big dumb truck monkey." And with that, Antagony strode off.

"Remind you of anyone?" Blackarachnia asked, walking up to Optimus.

"I don't think you could have been that bad Blackarachnia."

"What? Who said anything about me? I was talking about Depth Charge."

Optimus chuckled at that, Depth Charge never had been one for following his orders. At that moment, Razorclaw and Bantor walked up to Optimus and Blackarachnia.

"Ah, Bantor, Razorclaw, you two are the only ones I haven't collected reports on."

Razorclaw and Bantor gave crisp salutes while standing at attention.

"Sir, we have good news." Bantor said.

"Yes, we have managed to locate not one, but three shuttles." Razorclaw added.

"Good job soldiers, what are their conditions?" Optimus asked.

"Well sire, the first one is in near perfect condition, but it does need a new engine, as well as some new windows. The other two on the other hand..." Bantor trailed off.

"Ahem, what my associate is trying to say, is that the other two are in a a serious case of disrepair." Razorclaw filled in.

"Can they be fixed?"

"Well, if I had to guess, then I would say yes, but we do not have the available parts on hand, and I doubt that the junkyard would have the available parts." Razorclaw said.

"Hmmm, very well, first of all, we should get the shuttles back to the base, and then we can worry about the parts. Razorclaw, while I assemble a recovery team, do you think you could get all the available tools ready?"

Razorclaw sighed "Do you see these?" Razorclaw held up his pincers "These make acts of manual dexterity extremely hard, I have no fingers, only claws."

Optimus cleared his throat, slightly embarrassed. "Er, yes, well then, Bantor, do you think you could...?"

"At once sir!" Bantor gave another salute, before walking off to take care of his duty.

Optimus was now alone with Razorclaw, an awkward silence between them.

"Err, well...I suppose I should be getting along...getting volunteers for the recovery mission..." Optimus said.

"Right, go do that. Now." Razorclaw said, rolling his optics.

A short time later, Optimus was standing in front of an assembled group of Maximals and Predacons. Among them were Magmatron, Torca, Scorponok, Terrorsaur, Waspinator, Lazorbeak, Fractyl, Sonar, Rattrap, Tigatron and Scavenger.

"Greeting Maximal and Predacon forces, I have gathered you here today as part of an important recovery mission..."

"Oh man" Rattrap said, leaning towards Tigatron "Looks like our fearless leader's got somethin' to tell us, probably somethin' that involves me gettin' shot at by a bunch of Vehicon drones!"

"...Where we will have to attempt to move a number of transportation shuttles into our base here in the sewers, where our best mechanics will attempt to repair them, in order for use to safely move the civilians from here to the shipyard." Optimus continued, oblivious to Rattrap's conversation with Tigatron.

"Eh? Excuse me? Optimus? What exactly is the risk level of this mission? Cause I got a lotta stuff left to do before I die." Rattrap interrupted.

"Rest assured Rattrap that the risk factor is likely to be minimal, and in any case, I'll be there to help you remove the shuttles, as will Magmatron."

"And, uh, how do you know the risk level is minimal?" Rattrap asked.

"Because our scouts have reported no activity in the area."

"Oh, well that just fills me with confidence!"

"All right everybody, transform and roll out!"

In his room, Powerpinch was plotting.

"It seems that the Maximals and some of my own allies have located some shuttles" Powerpinch observed.

Earlier, he had convinced Double Punch into planting a number of cyberbees throughout the base, even now, they were carrying out the role of spy drones. Content with his plan, Powerpinch reached for a cage containing a number of mice.

"Lets see, which one of you tasty morsels shall I feast on today? Ah, you!" Powerpinch reached into the cage, grabbing a particularly large mouse with his claw, relishing its shrieks as he dangled it above his mouth.

"Powerpinch!" A voice cried out, startling Powerpinch enough to drop the mouse, were it quickly scurried to safety.

"Double Punch! You idiot! You made me lose my lunch! This had better be good!"

"Don't insult me Powerpinch! If not for me, who else would have planted all those drones?"

"Ok, fine, you're not an idiot! What is it?"

"Beeline has discovered something!" Beeline was Double Punch's pet cyberbees, practically his right hand man.

"And is it important?" Powerpinch said through gritted mandibles, wishing Double Punch would get to the point.

"Of course it is! Would you expect me to come running here if it wasn't?"

"Get on with it Double Punch! I haven't got all day!"

"Right, Beeline, plug into the video systems." Double Punch said to his pet.

Instantly, Beeline plugged into the video systems, and began playing a recording. Powerpinch was amazed by what he saw, now that he had this information, he had a certain Predacon in his grip, where there would be no escape.

"Excellent work Double Punch! With this recording, we can blackmail that little fool and use their strengths to my advantage!" Powerpinch gloated.

"Your advantage?" Double Punch asked "In case you've forgotten, I'm the one who found that little piece of info, and I can just as easily have Beeline erase the recording on my command!"

Powerpinch sighed "Our advantage, of course I meant our advantage." _I'll have to do something about him eventually_ Powerpinch thought.

In the junkyard, the Maximals and Predacons had tied cables around their bodies and the shuttles. They would all pull together on Optimus' command. Optimus, Rattrap, Tigatron and Scavenger were tied to the first shuttle, Landsaur, Seasaur, Torca and Scorponok were tied to the second, and Skysaur and the rest of the fliers were all tied to the third.

"All right, on three, we pull. One...two...THREE!" Optimus yelled out, and on his command, they all began pulling trying to dislodge the shuttles from the scrap.

The screeching of tyres and jet engines filled the air as the Maximals and Predacons began the long and arduous task.

"Oh man, this is hard work!" Fractyl complained as he strained against the cable which bound him to the shuttle.

"Rawk! Quit complaining and pull!" Terrorsaur said, as his jets continued, almost drowning out his voice.

"Easy for you to say! I'm just a geochemist, I'm not a soldier! I'm not even a transmetal!" Fractyl shot back.

"I'm getting sick of hearing you two talk, so shut up and pull" Scorponok said, as his treads worked furiously to move him forward "Do it for the glory of Megatron!"

"Ah, shut up! In case you've forgotten, I never liked Megatron! I tried to overthrow him repeatedly! I almost did once, until you fixed him!"

"Well, Waspinator helped!"

"Hey! Leave Waspinator out of this! Waspinator only follow Bug-Bot out of boredom!"

It took some time, but the two factions were able to pull the shuttles out of from under the scrap.

"Whew!" Optimus said, wiping his brow "Now that the hard part is over, it should be much easier for s to get these shuttles back to the base."

"I wouldn't bet on that too soon Maximal!" Scavenger said, pointing to a dust cloud that was rapidly approaching them.

"What the-? Sonar, can you see what it is?" Optimus asked, and Sonar obeyed, flying high into the sky.

"We've got problems Optimus! It's a whole pack of motorcycle drones!" Sonar reported as she flew back to the ground "Sonar, Maximise!"

Sonar turned back into her robot mode and detached herself from the shuttle. The others did the same and began returning to robot mode.

"What are your orders Optimus?" Tigatron asked, turning to his leader.

"Prepare for battle, they're only motorcycle drones, but I have no doubt that there's going to be a lot of them!" Optimus said "There might even be a drone general leading them!"

And indeed there was. Thrust was leading the charge as dozens of motorcycle drones sped towards the junkyard. He was correct in assuming that the Maximals would return there, and was pleased that Megatron agreed and had authorised the attack.

"Thrust, Accelerate!" He cried out, returning to robot mode, now at the entrance to the junkyard.

Thrust did not stop, but continued to speed along, expertly weaving to avoid the junk. All around him, he saw his loyal drones do the same. Suddenly, he saw one go down as it was struck by a shot. Thrust looked around until he saw the source of the shot. It was a bizarre combination of tank and scorpion.

"Scorponok, Terrorize!"

"Terrorsaur, Terrorize!"

"Waspinator, Terrorize!"

"Fractyl, Terrorize!"

"Lazorbeak, Terrorize!"

Looking around, Thrust could see five Predacons, spread out and standing on large piles of metal.

"Well isn't this nice? You've saved me the trouble of having to find you!" Thrust gloated, unaware that something was sneaking up behind him while his attention was fixed on the Predacons.

"Oof!" He grunted, as he was struck in the back by a blast

"Rule number one of warfare" Tigatron said, holding a pistol "Never leave your flank undefended!"

"You idiots! Why didn't you warn me?!" Thrust yelled at his drones, the closest of which merely shrugged.

In truth, they too had been watching the Predacons, too stupid to think that someone might have been sneaking up behind them.

"Open fire!" Thrust commanded, and the drones obeyed without question, firing on all sides in an attempt to eliminate the threats.

"Ha ha ha ha ha ha!"Lazorbeak laughed as he charged his weapon "Take a piece of this!" he fired his weapon, which effortlessly cut through a number of the motorcycle drones like butter.

Suddenly however, the beam from Lazorbeak's weapon tapered out and died.

"Fire it again!" Terrorsaur commanded.

"I can't! This thing's powerful, but it has a slow rate of fire and a long cool time!" Lazorbeak called out, now switching to duel pistols.

"Now you tell me!" Terrorsaur said, the annoyance evident in his voice as he gunned down another drone. _I hope the others get those shuttles back to base soon_ Terrorsaur thought as he fired again.

"Argh! I'm hit!" Fractyl said, clutching his shoulder.

"Don't stop firing!" Terrorsaur cried out "Remember your training!"

"What training?! I told you, I'm just a geochemist!"

"Oh slag!" Terrorsaur said as he landed.

Following Terrorsaur's lead, Waspinator landed as well, and Scorponok walked over too.

"Come on guys! Let's show these rookies how a real Predacon gets the job done!" Terrorsaur said as he threw a rifle to Waspinator.

"Waspinator all for it!"

"Yeah, let's give em' a lesson they'll never forget!"

At once, all three opened fire, taking out quite a number of drones.

Fractyl, Lazorbeak and even Tigatron were impressed by the threes display of firepower. However, for each drone that they shot down, another one took its place. It seemed to be an endless swarm of drones. Suddenly, the six warriors heard laughter.

"You fools!" Thrust said "Don't you get it? It's fruitless to fight, sooner or later, you'll run out of ammo, and then you'll be destroyed by my drones! Face it, you're better off surrendering!"

Terrorsaur growled "Never!" he cried out, grabbing his wings and pulling them off, turning them into a pair of bladed weapons.

Terrorsaur blinked when he realised what he had done.

"Hey Terrorsaur?" Scorponok asked.

"Y-yeah?"

"Did you know that you could do that?"

"No."

"Waspinator impressed, Waspinator wonders if Waspinator can do that too." Waspinator attempted to pull his wings, only to rip them right off.

"Gah! Waspinator not want that!"

Despite Waspinator's display of stupidity, Lazorbeak and Fractyl were inspired by the other's courage.

"Come on Fractyl! Let's go get 'em!" Lazorbeak said, leaping into the fray.

"Yeah! We can take them!" Fractyl said enthusiastically, firing wildly at the drones.

Tigatron leapt at the nearest drone, slashing and clawing it with his full force. "I have to admit you three" Tigatron said to Scorponok, Terrorsaur and Waspinator "You can really inspire a bot!"

Terrorsaur gaped, it felt strange to be complimented, Primus knows Megatron had never done it. "Alright guys" Terrorsaur said "Let's take these scum sucking drones down!"

Thrust was becoming nervous, he only brought so many drones with him, and in the space of seconds, things had gone from enormously well to catastrophically bad. "Drones, forward, show no mercy!" Thrust cried out, but as his drones charged forward, he began reversing, before turning and driving away at top speed. _I'll come back when they're dead_ he thought to himself.

Terrorsaur was now leading the others, charging through the drones, cutting them down left and right with his wings blades. Waspinator had recovered from his earlier embarrassment and was now fighting alongside him. Scorponok had now returned to tank mode and was blowing drones away with his tail cannon, while Lazorbeak and Fractyl provided some much needed air support. Very quickly, the number of drones began to dwindle. Suddenly, Tigatron's communicator activated.

"Tigatron, how's the situation?" Optimus said through the communicator.

"We have everything under control Optimus. Have the shuttle's been successfully delivered back to our base?"

"Affirmative, are you in need of backup?"

"No Optimus, Terrorsaur has the situation completely in his control."

"Terrorsaur?" Optimus asked, more than a little surprised "Well, finish off the drones and return to base. Optimus Primal, out."

Tigatron turned and began firing on the drones once again. At this point, he had to admit that he was enjoying himself, and he was even a little proud of Terrorsaur's skills. _He makes a fine warrior_ Tigatron though as a shot pierced a drone.

Meanwhile, back in the Maximal/Predacon base, Double Punch was dragging Antagony to Powerpinch's quarters.

"Let go of me, you overgrown arachnid!" Antagony said, trying to break free of Double Punch's iron grip.

"No way! I've been ordered to escort you, and that's exactly what I'm gonna do!" Double Punch said while Beeline perched on his shoulder, watching Antagony intently.

Double Punch reached Powerpinch's chambers and walked in, still dragging Antagony.

"Ahhhh, Double Punch, you've arrived, and I see you've brought the one I was looking for!"

"What do you want with me, bug brain?" Antagony asked as she glared at him.

"I have a little recording here, and I think you might find it interesting." Powerpinch chuckled as Beeline flew over to the video screens and began playing his recording.

Antagony stared at the picture for a few moments, before a look of horror dawned on her face.

"That's not what it looks like!" Antagony tried to explain.

"Save it! I'm no fool, I can see what you're doing in that video. Think how the others will react when they see this, why, I think Primal would be very interested on the subject matter. Better yet, why not Magmatron, Double Punch, what did he do to the last Predacon who crossed him?"

"Why, I believe he dipped him into a tank filled with Sharkticons Powerpinch!" Double Punch said, a smile crossing his mandibles.

"You wouldn't!" Antagony pleaded, a look of pure hatred on her face.

"Oh, but I would! And I think you know it! So here's how it's going to be, you help us, follow our every order, and I don't send a copy to Magmatron! Do we have a deal?"

Antagony glowered at Powerpinch, before doing the same to Double Punch. "Fine...I'll help you." She whispered. 

"What's that?" Powerpinch asked "I'm afraid I didn't hear you. You'll have to speak up."

"I said I'll help you, you creep!"

"Uh uh uh! Keep your temper in check, remember, your working for me now!" And with that, Powerpinch began laughing, he was soon joined by Double Punch, their demented laughter echoing off the walls.

End of chapter 5. Well, I'm sure you're wondering, what was on the recording which forced Antagony to become an unwilling ally to Powerpinch? I'm not revealing yet, but rest assured, it will be answered soon. Ok, now for something long overdue, I would like to thank all of those who reviewed, you guys rock! Hope you enjoyed the story, and don't forget to leave a review when you're done!


	7. A Secret Revealed

Welcome one and all to New Beast Wars, chapter 7 now. As usual, I do not own Beast Wars, Beast Machines, IDW comics or any characters associated with Transformers (but a guy can dream, can't he?). Continuing were we left off, Powerpinch and Double Punch had used a mysterious tape to blackmail Antagony to doing their will (or rather, Powerpinch's will). Will that tape's contents be revealed this chapter? Let's find out. Please remember to leave a review when you're finished and enjoy the story!

Following the total conquest of Cybertron by the Vehicon forces, the Maximals and the Predacons had been forced to put aside their differences and work together to try and liberate Cybertron. Although the process had been slow, the two rival factions had come to cooperate, and even respect each other. Now, that respect was changing, although relationships were strained, some Maximals had come to see the Predacons as more than allies, they had come to see them as friends. Some Predacons had even reciprocated these feelings.

"Come back here, Maximal scum!"

Well, not all of them.

"...So the fourth golfer says "So sorry, but I'm receiving a fax from Tokyo!"" Buzzsaw said to Armordillo, who laughed uproariously.

"That has to be one of the most amusing jokes I've heard in a long time. You know Buzzsaw, for a Predacon, you're not half bad."

"And the same goes for you too Maximal."

The two suddenly had to leap to the side when they saw Rattrap roaring towards them in vehicle mode. They barely made it, but just as they started to walk off again, Powerpinch rounded a corner and came crashing into the pair.

"You idiots! Quick, which way did the vermin run off to?" Powerpinch yelled at the two.

"Err...that way..." Buzzsaw said, pointing in the direction Rattrap had sped off to, watching as Powerpinch continued the chase. "Hmmm, I don't like this."

"Why not?" Armordillo asked.

"He had that look in his eye, and when Powerpinch gets a look, you don't want to be anywhere near him, trust me."

"Oh man, I hope that that big bug doesn't catch up!" Rattrap said as he continued to drive down the tunnels with reckless abandon.

Suddenly, he turned a corner, only to crash into Double Punch, who was in the midst of arguing with Antagony, apparently about keeping Beeline from perching on Antagony's head.

"Oof!" Double Punch grunted as he was sent sprawling.

"Eh, sorry, but I gotta jet!" Rattrap said, revving his engines.

"Wait! Double Punch! Antagony! Stop that rat!" Powerpinch cried out, quickly closing the distance between himself and Rattrap.

Rattrap yelped, and tried to drive off, only to found himself stuck in place. He turned to see Double Punch gripping onto his tail with one of his claws, his stinger firmly driven into the ground to prevent himself from being dislodged and dragged along the ground.

"Hey! Let go of me, ya big bug!" Rattrap complained.

"Give me back what you stole first! If you do, then I might convince my friend here to let you go." Powerpinch said menacingly.

"What's going on here?" a new voice said.

All four turned to see the towering figure of Magmatron looming over them.

"Er, Lord Magmatron, this vermin here stole something that belongs to me, I merely wish to have it back."

"And what would that be Powerpinch?" Magmatron asked, he doubted Powerpinch would want to reveal the item, but he had no choice.

"Er...he stole my..." Powerpinch muttered something incomprehensible.

"What Powerpinch?"

"He stole my...lunch box." Powerpinch admitted.

"Lunchbox? Rattrap, Maximise! Rattrap cried out, returning to robot mode and holding out a cage filled with mice "You call this a lunch box?"

"They're snacks! Delicious, furry little snacks."

"You're a sick little bug, you know that?"

"Give me back my food rat!"

"Ya know, you remind me of another Predacon? He was a lot like you, had a lotta legs, a bad attitude and sweet tooth for small animals too. Of course, he ended up as nothing more than a pile of scrap. You wanna end up like that too?"

"Are you threatening me vermin?"

"Maybe I am. Maybe I ain't!"

"Enough!" Magmatron shouted loud enough to make all those present jump. "Rattrap, as much as I agree that Powerpinch is a disgusting, evil little worm, I have to insist that you return his, er...lunch box."

Rattrap scowled, and moved towards Powerpinch. Suddenly, he tripped and fell, opening the cage as he did. When the cage hit the ground, all the mice scurried out.

"You did that one purpose rodent!" Powerpinch accused.

"Oh please bug brain, it was an accident, anyone can see that!" Rattrap countered.

"The hell it was!"

"I tripped!"

"On what?!"

Magmatron could not help but smile, Rattrap's little stunt was obviously intentional, but he had no real desire to side with that slimy little creep Powerpinch.

"Powerpinch, let's not jump to conclusions, it was an accident, let's leave it at that."

"But Magmatron-!" Powerpinch began, before Magmatron cut him off.

"I don't want to hear any more on the subject Powerpinch, so why don't you just drop it?" Magmatron said, as he began walking off.

Powerpinch scowled and turned to Rattrap "Don't think this is over, vermin, you've made a grave mistake!"

"You lost a cage full of mice! Are you really gonna start a vendetta over that?!" Rattrap asked, astonished at how ridiculous this was.

"He's very, very petty." Antagony said.

"And if anyone should know, it's you witch! So why don't you stay quiet, or else!" Powerpinch growled at Antagony.

"We should be moving on Powerpinch, the monkey has called an assembly." Double Punch said, referring to an announcement Optimus Primal had made earlier.

Powerpinch scowled, turned to Rattrap and said "I'll be seeing you later vermin!" before walking off with Double Punch and a very reluctant Antagony.

"Bunch of freaks!" Rattrap muttered.

"Something wrong, Rattrap?" Optimus Minor asked, walking up to the older Maximal.

"It's that weirdo Powerpinch and his two cronies! They seem creepy, even for Predacons!"

"Do you suspect something is amiss?"

"I don't know...maybe. I just get the feeling that those three are hiding something."

"Would you like me to spy on them?" Optimus Minor offered.

"You'd do that?" rattrap asked, a little surprised that a Maximal would offer to spy on someone for him.

"Sure, I don't like those three anymore than you do, especially Powerpinch. I mean, that guy just radiates evil, y'know?"

"Heh, tell me about it!" Rattrap said with a small chuckle "Ok then, I guess I'll take you up on your offer! Just remember to be careful!"

"Don't worry about me sir, stealth is my middle name!"

"Optimus "Stealth" Minor? Catchy, has a nice ring to it." Rattrap laughed at this, and Minor joined him.

In the assembly area, Optimus Primal was standing in front of the entire Maximal and Predacon forces. Since they had discovered a number of shuttles which could be used to safely transport a number of civilians to the nearby shipyard, they had been looking for any available parts which could be used to make the repairs necessary to make them work. He now believed that he had a good idea where to obtain the parts.

"My fellow Maximals and my Predacon allies!" Optimus' voice boomed into a microphone. "I believe that I had found a solution to our shuttle dilemma. While the nearby junkyard would not be likely to have the parts required for repairs, I suspect that a number of the Vehicon factories would."

A murmur rippled through the crowd. Infiltrating Vehicon production plants would be extremely risky, the factories would be heavily guarded.

"I know that this seems like a large task, but Magmatron, Razorbeast and myself have devised a plan to help make infiltrating the factories as quick and safe as possible. Razorbeast?"

Optimus stood to the side to allow Razorbeast take the podium.

"We have decided that while a small number of Maximals and Predacons attempt to infiltrate the factories, the rest of us will be wreaking havoc across Cybertron. Hopefully, this will cause the drones to abandon their posts and allow you to sneak by them and enter the factories. With Ravage's help, we have acquired a number of factory blueprints that will undoubtedly aid you. Once inside, you need merely refer to your blueprints and find the necessary items. Are there any question." Razorbeast concluded.

There were no questions, and Optimus proceeded to pick out those who would be chosen for the stealth mission and those who would be assigned to distraction duty.

"Those who have been assigned to enter the factory, please step to your left." Optimus commanded.

A number of Maximals and Predacons stepped to the left, Antagony was one of them.

"And those who will provide distractions please step to your right."

An even greater number stepped to their rights, Powerpinch, Double Punch and Optimus Minor among them.

"Good, all those on the right side, please report to the armoury for the necessary equipment. All those on the left can go to their designated positions. Good luck." Optimus finished, stepping away from the podium.

Rattrap walked up to Optimus Minor. "Ok, here's our chance, Powerpinch isn't gonna be here in the base for this mission, so I want you to slip away from the fighting and go check out his room."

"Sir, yes sir!" Minor said, giving Rattrap a salute.

"Awww, jeez, could you not do that?"

"Yes sir, sorry sir!"

Rattrap sighed "You know what? Never mind, just do what I told ya to, ok?"

"I got ya!"

"Great, now go to the armoury, it'll help to avoid suspicion." And with that, the two Maximals parted company, unaware that they had been spotted talking together.

Arriving in the armoury, Powerpinch was talking to Double Punch "Have you planted the communicator on Antagony?" he asked his partner in crime.

"Yes, I have. She didn't even notice either, Beeline did a real good job." Double Punch replied, earlier he had had Beeline place a communicator on Antagony, who had attempted to swat it.

"Er, yes, I'm sure. Good work Double Punch."

"Don't forget to congratulate Beeline." Double Punch said, turning to Beeline, who was perched on his shoulder.

"I'm not bloody congratulating that thing!"

"I think you better!" Double Punch said, suddenly placing his stinger on Powerpinch's throat.

"Er...good work Beeline...I value your service."

"Was that so hard?"

"Not when my life is being threatened!"

"Huh?" Antagony said, puzzled by what she was hearing.

It had sounded like Powerpinch and Double Punch had been arguing. She looked around, not seeing them.

"Never try that again!"

There it was again! It had sounded like Powerpinch this time. Antagony quickly turned her head, still seeing no one.

"Hey, you need to remember that I'm the one who does all the dirty work around here! If not for me and Beeline, who else would have slipped that communicator on Antagony?"

"Quiet fool! The others will hear us!"

Antagony scowled. So that was why she was hearing those two idiots, they had slipped a communicator on her. _They must have accidently triggered it, fools_ Antagony thought. She briefly considered telling them this, before deciding against it.

A short time later, the attack group was getting into their positions. Optimus Minor's group was standing outside of the Cybertronian Archives. A small number of Tank Drones were standing outside, acting as sentries. The Archives, aside from containing all of the history of the Transformers, also had the advantage of being very close to a Vehicon production plant.

"All right soldiers" Magmatron said, taking cover behind a large building, in order to avoid being seen. "On my mark, we break our cover, and charge. One-!"

Magmatron was cut short when Torca burst out from behind the building and began attempting to tackle the drones.

"Stick to the plan! Stick to the plan!" Magmatron cried out.

"Wait, do we even have a plan, or are we just blindly charging at an enemy with superior numbers?" Spittor asked.

"Er...never mind, don't stick to the plan, there is none!" Magmatron yelled.

Optimus Minor hung back and watched while the others charged at the tank drones, firing madly as they did so. He looked to his right and saw smoke billowing near the shipyard. It looked like the plan was being carried out all. _But just to be safe, I'll stay here for at least a minute before doubling back_ Minor thought, while he witnessed Landsaur chomping on a tank drone.

After a while, Minor finally left the battlefield and began running back to the Maximal/Predacon base. When he finally arrived, he was glad to see that it was deserted.

"I guess Optimus really did send everyone." Minor said to himself "Strange, I would have thought that he would have at least kept someone here to stand guard."

As if on cue, Retrax appeared, walking down a different corridor. Minor quickly hid as the Predacon walked by.

"Odd, I could have sworn I heard something...oh well, must have been my imagination." Retrax said.

_Ok, new rule, never talk to self ever again_ Minor thought as he clung to a pipe that was lining the roofs of the tunnels.

Minor quickly but quietly made his way towards Powerpinch's room, looking carefully down both sides of the hall, Minor entered. Once inside, he gave the room a quick glance, before he began searching.

_How does Powerpinch find anything in here? This place is a mess!_ Minor thought to himself. He was afraid to talk, in case someone heard him, or in case Powerpinch had bugged the room. _Wait a second, what's this?_ Minor grabbed a small silver disc that had been carefully hidden from behind a large assortment of weapons. He looked around once agin, before quickly leaving the room. As quietly as he possibly could, Minor began walking to his quarters, he could play the disc there. Once there, he slipped the disc into his personal computer and began playing it. Minor was stunned by what he saw.

It showed Antagony in her quarters, her computer was on, except, there was an image of someone on the computer.

"Agent Antagony, report!" The voice barked, the sound coming from the computer.

"Sir, I have infiltrated the Maximal and Predacon forces."

"Good, what are they planning?"

"Currently, they are involved in a plan to search for escort shuttles in order to safely transport the rescued civilian offworld."

"You must not let that happen! Do anything you can to sabotage their efforts."

"Yes sir!"

"One more thing, do they suspect that you are one of our agents?"

"No sir, no one suspects a thing."

"Good, General Cicadacon, out."

The recording ended there. Minor could only stare at the screen in shock. Antagony was a double agent? Minor knew the name Cicadacon, he was one of the members of the Tripredacus Council.

"This is bad, this is bad, this is bad!" Minor said to himself.

"You have no idea Maximal!" A voice from behind Minor said.

Minor whirled around to see Double Punch.

"How did you-?" Minor began.

"You seem to have forgotten junior, that I possess a cloaking device. When Powerpinch and I saw you talking to the rat, we knew you were up to no good, and I was proven right when I saw you slip away from the battle. I followed you here, and now that you've seen that disc, I'm going to have to silence you!" With that, Double Punch's tail shot up and impaled Minor through the chest, he could only gape as the world slowly started to darken.

Double Punch chuckled "Did you get that Beeline?"

Beeline buzzed in response. He always recorded Double Punch's killings, it made his master very happy.

"Good, now, I had better take that disc." Double Punch moved over to the computer, ejected the disc and walked out of the room, Beeline following closely behind him.

Later, the Maximals and Predacons who had been part of the mission returned.

"Good job team, with these parts we should be able to repair those shuttles." Optimus said, glad that the mission had turned out so well.

Rattrap began looking throughout the base for Minor. He approached Buzzsaw and Armordillo. "Hey, either of you guys seen Minor?"

"No, sorry, have you checked his room?" Buzzsaw offered.

"Right, thanks." Rattrap said as he walked off.

He walked up to Minor's room, knocking on the door. "Hello? Kid? You in there?"

He received no reply, so he shrugged and went in.

"Hey, Minor? You-?" Rattrap stopped and stared. "No!"

Rattrap rushed over, he saw Minor, slumped over in the chair by his computer, a large hole in his chest.

"No! This is all my fault!" Rattrap said, clutching Minor's hand in his own.

End of chapter 7. Things just took a turn for the worst there, didn't they? Well, that answers the question of what was on the tape, I hope it didn't disappoint. I'm glad it didn't turn out to be just a plot device, like the damn briefcase in Pulp Fiction. Now for some bad news: I may not be able to make daily updates anymore, I'll try my best to update as soon as I can, but I doubt it'll be daily, sorry. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed the chapter, and please leave a review. Thank you!


	8. Framed!

Welcome back to New Beast Wars, chapter 8 this time. I do not own Beast Wars, Beast Machines, IDW comics or any characters associated with Transformers. As you may or may not have read, Powerpinch was blackmailing Antagony, Optimus Minor found out how, and Double Punch silenced him for it. Wait, why am I telling you this? You should be reading it for yourselves! Once again, I apologize if anyone acts ooc, and I would like to remind you that I am open to constructive criticism. Don't forget to leave a review when you're done. On with the story!

The entire Maximal and Predacon alliance had assembled. It was a dark day for the alliance. Earlier, rattrap had discovered Optimus Minor's lifeless body, a large hole in his chest. The news had hit them all hard, but none quite so hard as Rattrap. He had sent the young Maximal to spy on the Predacon Powerpinch, fearing that he had been up to something. However, that was the last time he had seen Optimus Minor alive, and now he suspected that Powerpinch had something to do with it.

"My friends" Optimus Primal said solemnly, standing in front of a podium "A great tragedy has befallen us. We have lost one of our own, a great soldier, a great Maximal, a great young transformer. His name was Optimus Minor. In his lifetime he brought joy and cheer to all those that he met with his jovial nature and cheerful good humour. He sought to restore peace and freedom to Cybertron by fighting the tyranny of the Vehicon hordes. Sadly, he has been taken from us, and we shall never again see his smile, hear his laughter, or share his company.

"Yet we shall find courage knowing that while he died, his spark shall live on and be one with the Matrix. In time, we too shall all be one with the Matrix, but until that day, we will fight to restore peace to Cybertron. May Optimus Minor and his deeds never be forgotten. Till all are one."

"Till all are one." The others echoed solemnly.

All turned to see Optimus Minor's body lowered onto the cremator. They watched in silence as a purple gas was released that quickly dissolved Minor's body. No one could believe that one of their own had died, worse, in their base. This could only mean one of two things. Either the Vehicon drones had found their base, or someone on the inside had murdered him. Very few people were happy about the latter, but seeing as no Vehicons had rushed into the base, it was beginning to seem like the much more likely option.

"This is all my fault." Rattrap whispered to himself.

"How could it have been your fault Rattrap?" Cheetor asked.

"I-I sent the kid to go an' spy on Powerpinch. I thought he might be up ta something. I'm sure he's responsible for this!" Rattrap said, clenching his fist.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa! You sent a rookie to spy on one of our own allies?" Cheetor asked, shocked.

"He's up to something! He's always skulkin' around, poking his nose into business which don't concern him! I'm tellin' ya, he can't be trusted!"

"Rattrap, you know I'm gonna have to report this to Optimus right?"

"Yeah, whatever. I don't care anymore."

Cheetor sighed, it really hurt him to see his friend acting this way. He didn't want to have to report his actions to Optimus either, but it might shed some light on how Minor had been killed. Optimus had been questioning just about everybody since Rattrap had discovered him, slumped over his computer with a gaping hole in his chest. Cheetor finally spotted Optimus and began walking over to him.

"Optimus, I need to tell you something-" Cheetor began.

"I'm afraid that it's going to have to wait Cheetor, Powerpinch has discovered some information that might help us discoverer the details surrounding Optimus Minor's death."

Cheetor looked astonished. He looked past Optimus and saw Powerpinch standing there, alongside Double Punch and that nasty little cyberbees that was always shadowing him.

"But sir, I think this might-"

"Cheetor, not now!" Optimus said, in a much sterner tone of voice this time.

Cheetor sighed, he would just have to wait and hope that this wouldn't end badly for anyone.

"You wanted to show me something Powerpinch?" Optimus asked, watching as Cheetor turned to leave.

"Indeed I did Optimus. My associate, Double Punch" Powerpinch motioned for Double Punch to move forward "He has a recording of Optimus Minor's death!"

"I see. And just how did Double Punch get a recording of Minor's death?" Optimus asked, the suspicion evident in his voice.

"Well sir, I noticed Optimus Minor sneaking away during the battle, so I sent Beeline here to follow him" Double Punch glanced briefly at Beeline, who buzzed in response "I had him record everything, in case he was doing something against regulations, and well...I think you better look at the disc sir." Razorbeast finished, holding up an unlabeled disc.

Optimus took the disc, before walking to his quarters. He slipped it into his computer, and began watching. He was horrified by what he saw. In it, Optimus could clearly see Optimus Minor, he was sitting in a chair, talking to another person, and they seemed to be arguing. The other person...was Retrax.

"Nobody makes a fool out of me monkey! No one!" Retrax yelled at Optimus Minor.

"Retrax, please! It was just a card game! Have mercy!" Minor pleaded.

Minor tried to make for the exit, but was pushed back down by Retrax. Minor quickly leant down and grabbed his whip from off the floor, in a vain attempt to defend himself. He tried to whip Retrax, but the larger Predacon merely turned slightly to his side, allowing his shell to absorb the damage.

"Game over, monkey!" Retrax sneered, leaning down and charging Minor.

Minor let out a gasping noise, his chest had been pierced by one of Retrax's beast mode pincers.

"Perhaps that will teach you to beat me in a game of poker." Retrax said, before beginning to turn and walking away. He stopped just short of the door, turned back again, kneeled down and picked up Optimus Minor's whip.

"You wouldn't mind me taking this would you? I doubt that you'll be needing it ever again." Retrax asked the dying Maximal, who could only make a sick, choking noise in reply.

"I'll take that as consent then, shall I?" Retrax asked, before turning away and whistling.

The disc's recording ended there. Optimus could only stare in shock at his screen. He could not believe that one of his own soldiers, even a Predacon, could do this, over a game of poker.

"This is Optimus Primal to Dinobot, come in Dinobot!" Optimus spoke into his communicator.

"This is Dinobot." Dinobot's voice came through the communicator.

"Dinobot, I want you to meet me to meet me outside my room. Can you do that?"

"Yes, but why Optimus?"

"I'll explain it when you get here, Tigatron will be joining us. Optimus Primal, out." Optimus concluded, before switching to Tigatron's frequency.

"Tigatron, this is Optimus Primal..."

A short time later, both Tigatron and Dinobot had come to Optimus' quarters. They were waiting outside, when Optimus walked out of his room.

"What is this about Optimus?" Dinobot asked.

"I'll need you two to act as backup for me, we may have to apprehend Retrax." Optimus replied.

"Retrax? But why Optimus?" Tigatron asked.

"Because I have just received a disc which proves that Retrax was he one responsible for the death of Optimus Minor." Optimus Primal replied.

"The death of an enemy is acceptable, slaying an opponent in a fair fight is honourable, but killing one's own ally? This is a cowardly and dishonourable act, punishable by death!" Dinobot spat out, brandishing his talons.

"We'll attempt to apprehend Retrax first Dinobot, but if he attempts to flee, or fight us..." Optimus trailed off, and Dinobot gave a wicked grin.

The three moved down the hallway until they came to Retrax's room. Optimus nodded to Tigatron, who nodded back, and then kicked the door in. All three were stunned by what they saw in the room.

"By the Pit!" Dinobot exclaimed, staring at the walls of Retrax's room in shock.

Dozens of Vehicon pieces were lining the walls. What held them there, Optimus had no idea, but it was enough to make him shudder. The three cautiously made their way into the room. They could see a figure slouched over a desk which held a computer. Dinobot walked up closer and nodded, it was indeed Retrax. Dinobot prodded Retrax with the rifle that he was carrying.

"Huh? Who's there?" Retrax asked, he had been asleep up until Dinobot had poked him.

"Your worst nightmare!" Dinobot said, showing all of his teeth in a monster grin, which Retrax instinctively recoiled from.

"Retrax, for the murder of Optimus Minor, we are placing you under arrest. We will escort you to the holding cells, if you attempt to resist detainment, then we will be forced to use lethal fire on you." Optimus said.

"Wha-? You think that I killed the kid? But why?! What motive could I have possibly had?!" Retrax asked in astonishment.

"Apparently because he beat you in a game of poker. There's no use feigning innocence Retrax, we have in our possession a disc which shows you committing the murder." Optimus said, raising his weapon, Dinobot and Tigatron did the same.

"I didn't do it, and you can't make me come with you! Beast Mode!" And with that, Retrax transformed into a gargantuan organic pill bug. He curled up into a ball, and began charging at Tigatron, who barely made it out of the way in time.

"Quick, stop him!" Optimus cried out, opening fire on Retrax as he did so.

Dinobot and Tigatron quickly transformed and began their pursuit. With their speed, they soon caught up with Retrax.

"Give it up traitor!" Tigatron commanded as he ran alongside Retrax.

"face your fate with honour coward!"

"I'm innocent!" Retrax yelled, before leaning sharply to his left, slamming Tigatron into a wall.

"Oof! Dinobot, don't lose him!" Tigatron cried out as he struggled to get back up.

"There's nowhere to run! Give up!"

"Never!"

Retrax made a very sharp right, and while he made it, Dinobot was unable to turn that quickly, and crashed into the wall. Retrax was now panicking, he had just been accused of murder, and to make things worse, he had make the mistake of not only running, but also of attacking two of his allies.

"Pterosaur Squad, Terrorize!" a voice ahead of Retrax cried out.

Blocking Retrax's path were Terrorsaur, Fractyl and Lazorbeak.

"You won't be able to get by us, so why don't you surrender?" Terrorsaur asked.

"Retrax Terrorize!" Retrax returned to robot mode, before turning to Lazorbeak "Lazorbeak, you have to believe me, I didn't kill that kid!"

"I wish I could believe that Retrax, but I saw that disc."

"Argh! I'm innocent!" Retrax cried out, before rushing the three fliers.

"Rawk! Stop him! Open fire!" Terrorsaur commanded.

The newly formed Pterosaur squad then proceeded to fire on their former ally. However, Retrax turned slightly to his side, allowing his beast mode's thick hide to take the brunt of the fire.

"Lazorbeak! Charge your laser!" Fractyl ordered, although they shared the same rank.

"I can't it'll kill him!"

"That's the plan!" Terrorsaur said with a smirk "Rawk!"

It was too late, Retrax rushed past the trio, knocking them down as he did so. Retrax continued down the labyrinth of twisting corridors, nervously looking over his shoulder every now and again, to make sure that he wasn't being followed.

"Almost to the exits!" Retrax exclaimed, looking behind him again "I can make it! I can make it!"Retrax said, before turning his head again.

Perhaps if he hadn't, he might have seen the large web that Blackarachnia had set up there.

"Well, caught you now traitor!" Blackarachnia said, as she crawled down her freshly woven web. "Blackarachnia, Terrorize!" she yelled, before expertly flipping down to the ground in mid transformation.

Soon, the others had caught up.

"It's over Retrax! Now, we'll escort you down to the holding cells, if you try to flee again, then this time we won't resort to capturing you!" Optimus said, pointing his gun at Retrax's head.

Retrax shrugged, he had grown tired, and knew that the others would not listen to his claims of innocence. He allowed himself to be led to the holding cells, where he was handcuffed and placed inside of a cell. Dinobot would have the first watch. Retrax neither no or particularly cared who had him next.

Powerpinch and Double Punch, who had witnessed the chase through a series of carefully placed cyberbees, laughed manically.

"Excellent! Out plan to fool that fool Retrax worked better than expected!" Powerpinch gloated.

"Indeed, his attempts to escape only cemented his guilty appearance!" Double Punch added. "Imagine how they would react if they knew that is was us Powerpinch!"

"Yes, well. I'm glad that is not us! Now, keep quiet! I don't want you to talk about it anymore, anybody could be listening! And delete that recording of yours, we don't want it being discovered!"

"Hey, no way! I doctored that recording so that we could frame Retrax, so I think that as a reward, I should keep the recording!"

Powerpinch briefly thought about arguing against it, and then thought otherwise. _It's only him on the disc, and he never mentions my connection anyway, I can just claim ignorance if anyone discovers it_ Powerpinch thought.

"Fine Double Punch, you can keep your recording."

Little did the scheming duo know, that not only was someone watching, but they were playing right into that person's hands.

End of chapter 8. The Pterosaur Squad has been officially formed, and I will keep referring to them as that. Moving on, it would seem that Powerpinch and Double Punch have made a mistake by gloating...or have they? No, they probably have. You can probably guess who overhead them, but I won't ruin it. I hope you enjoyed it, and would like you to leave a review. Thanks for reading!


	9. Operation Exodus: Part I

Ok, here we go, New Beast Wars, chapter 9. I do not own Beast Wars, Beast Machines, IDW comics, or any characters associated with Transformers. Anyway, characters may be ooc, but feel free to constructively criticize in the review. Enjoy the story!

Optimus Primal was deeply disturbed. Following the death of one of his soldiers, he had received evidence that had proved that a Predacon had been responsible. He and a group of soldiers had captured that Predacon, a towering figure by the name of Retrax, but it didn't comfort Optimus in the slightest.

Perhaps it was the fact that one of men, but even that didn't quite feel right to Optimus Primal. _No_ he thought _Something just feels wrong._ The problem was, he couldn't figure out what exactly, if anything, was wrong. Optimus sighed, and placed his head in his hands. His thoughts were interrupted when Rhinox walked up to him.

"Optimus, I have good news. We've managed to repair all three of the shuttles, all they need now is a test run to see if they're fully operational." Rhinox said.

"Good job Rhinox." Optimus said half-heartedly.

"Something troubling you Optimus?"

"Yes, as a matter of fact there is. I've been thinking about Minor's death, and there's just something about it that seems..." Optimus trailed off, he couldn't quite describe his feeling.

"I know what you mean. It seems so...odd that even a Predacon would kill someone over something as trivial as a card game."

"Were we wrong to imprison Retrax then? Could he have been innocent?"

"Well Optimus, the disc clearly showed Retrax murdering Minor, so I think we at least need to be cautious."

"I suppose so but what-?" Optimus was cut off when Cheetor burst into the room.

"Optimus! Rhinox! You gotta come quick! It's the Vehicons! They're bombing the whole sector!"

"What?" Rhinox exclaimed, if they were bombing the sector, then the shipyard was in the line of fire.

"Rhinox, take Fractyl, Terrorsaur and Lazorbeak, and see if you can set up a shield generator around the shipyard! That's our only source of escape vessels for the refugees, if we lose it, then they'll be stuck here!" Optimus ordered, before turning to Cheetor.

"Cheetor, I want you to take the others and get them ready for combat, Rhinox and the others are going to need time to set up that shield generator, so they're going to need you to keep the drones at bay!"

"I'm on it sir! Beast Mode!" Cheetor said, before transforming and running to carry out Optimus' orders.

"I can only hope that we get there in time." Optimus said to himself.

Meanwhile, Antagony was in Powerpinch's room, going through every heap of rubbish that she could see.

"Its got to be here somewhere!" Antagony said to herself, throwing a rubber duck that she had found aside, next to a small replica of Starscream's head, a medieval flail and Sun Tzu's _The Art of War._

"Aha!" Antagony cried out in triumph, holding a disc aloft in one hand.

"Finally! Without this, that bug brained freak and his creepy little pal won't be able to blackmail me!"

"Wanna bet?" A voice from behind Antagony said.

She whirled around to see Powerpinch and Double Punch standing in the doorway.

Antagony growled at them "Stay back you little freaks! I've got the disc, and if you don't stand back right now, I'll break it!"

"Oh really?" Powerpinch asked "Well then...go ahead."

Antagony did a double take. Was he serious?

"Big mistake bucko!" Antagony sneered as she crushed the disc into tiny fragments with her hand.

To her surprise however, Powerpinch just laughed.

"You foolish little ant!" Powerpinch taunted "Did you really think that that was the only copy I had?" At this, Powerpinch pulled out a second disc.

Powerpinch was more than a little surprised when Antagony activated her eye beams and vaporised the second disc.

"Uh...Double Punch? Did you know that she could do that?" Powerpinch asked, suddenly finding himself holding a slightly smouldering molten disc.

" N-no..."

"Not that it matters" Powerpinch said "We have more, in reserve."

Antagony let loose a yell of frustration.

"Temper, temper." Powerpinch said, waving his finger "Double Punch, give her something to calm her nerves!"

Double Punch raised one of his large pincers, opened it, and fire a large dart. It hit Antagony in the shoulder.

"Was that supposed to hurt?" Antagony asked as she plucked the needle out of her shoulder.

"No, but it did just send hundreds of micro-capsules streaming into your system." Double Punch said.

Antagony froze "What?"

"Double Punch just infected you with a number of micro-capsules filled with a highly corrosive acid. The capsules contain the acid, but with but one push if a button" Powerpinch pulled out a detonator "I could release that acid and destroy you from the inside out."

Antagony scowled "I swear, one day, I will get you back!" she spat, before pushing past them and leaving.

In the shipyard, Rhinox was setting up the shield generator which would hopefully protect the ships from the Vehicons bombing.

"Pterosaur Squad, Terroize!"

Rhinox looked up to see Terrorsaur, Fractyl and Lazorbeak come in for a landing.

"What's the situation Terrorsaur?" Rhinox asked.

"Not good Rhinox, there's dozens of drones, they almost blotted out the sky! Rawk!" Terrorsaur replied, he seemed slightly nervous.

"Stay strong soldier! I'll need you and Fractyl to help me set up the shield generator." Rhinox said.

"And what about me Rhinox?" Lazorbeak asked.

"You can provide us with air support, should be easy with that big laser of yours."

"Sir, yes sir!" Lazorbeak said, giving Rhinox a salute, before flying off.

"Rawk! Hey, I'm your commanding officer! Salute me!" Terrorsaur yelled at Lazorbeak as he flew off.

Fractyl tried to conceal a giggle, to no avail.

"Wipe that smirk off your face soldier!" Terrorsaur growled "We've got a shield generator to set up!"

Fractyl sighed "Exactly what part of "geochemist" do you people not understand?"

"Dammit Fractyl! You've got an easy assignment, so don't complain!" Terrorsaur snapped at his subordinate.

While the three technical experts were setting up the shield generator, the rest of the Maximal/Predacon Alliance were getting ready for a massive battle between themselves and the Vehicon forces. Airazor and Transquito were setting up defensive gun emplacements on the tops of buildings while Spittor was leading a number of ground based Maximals and Predacons in constructing a barricade across the street. Suddenly, all those present could hear a low droning noise.

"Cheetor! Do you see anything?" Spittor called out to Cheetor, who was standing on top of a building.

"Hang on!" Cheetor called back down, before using the zoom feature on his optics "Yeah! Aero drones! Lots and lots of aero drones!"

At once, all of the present soldiers began scrambling to get into their positions. Those on the roofs ran to their turrets, while the fliers began to take to the air.

"Here they come!" Airazor yelled to the others.

Panic started to dawn on the faces of the Maximals and Predacons. There were no dozens of drones, but hundreds, and they were all coming towards them.

"FIRE!" Cheetor ordered when the droning of the drones engines became almost unbearable.

The Maximals and Predacons that had manned the turrets opened fire, shooting down a number of Predacons. The fliers did the same. But for every Aero drone that was shot down, another one took its place. Grimlock tried to take down the drones by using his fire breath, but even that was not enough to put a dent in the drones numbers.

"They're breaking away!" Silverbolt warned, and indeed, a number of drones were peeling away from the main group while only a small number of drones stayed.

"Fliers! Take out those peelers! All turret soldiers, concentrate fire on the drones that are fleeing until they leave range, then go for the remaining ones!" Cheetor ordered.

Beside him, Tigatron stifled a grin. The kid had become quite the leader in his absence, he had really matured.

"Onwards soldiers! Let's rock the Casbah!" Ravage cried out, before going into cassette mode and inserting himself into his turret. Aside from controlling it manually, he could also get it to play his favourite songs, which he had compiled into one handy little tape: Songs to Shoot to.

"Uh...what...what he said." Spittor said as he turned to fire on an Aero drone.

Meanwhile, back at the shipyard, Terrorsaur, Fractyl and Rhinox were still setting up the shield generator.

"Hey, what's keeping you guys?" Lazorbeak called out.

"Lazorbeak, this isn't like brain surgery!" Terrorsaur replied

"Oh, well that's-"

"It's much harder!"

"How? How can setting up a shield generator be harder than brain surgery?"

"Because if we make any mistakes then this shield isn't gonna protect anything, in fact, the worst case scenario is if it explodes and takes out ten blocks!" Rhinox yelled to Lazorbeak.

"That much power from a device that's about as big as a printer?" Lazorbeak balked.

"Yeah, so why don't you stick to guarding before-!" Fractyl let out a squawk when the shield generator began sparking. He, Rhinox and Terrorsaur leapt for cover...but nothing happened.

"Huh...must have been a crossed wire..." Fractyl said sheepishly as Rhinox and Terrorsaur glared at him.

Back at the battle site, the fighting between the land bound Maximals and Predacons was going badly.

"Slag!" Cheetor cursed as he barely managed to dodge a shot "Rocket boosters! Rocket boosters! My Transmetal II form for a pair of damn rocket boosters!" Cheetor took his frustration out on the drones, shooting down another three.

"Ya know, it's times like these that I wish I was a Transmetal again!" Cheetor called out to Tigatron, who was using a turret on another side of the building.

"You're not missing out on a lot kid, trust me!"

A thought occurred to Cheetor "Hey Tigatron?"

"Yeah?"

"What's your vehicle mode? I don't think I've ever seen it."

"It's not that impressive...I trade my legs for a pair of wheels, and that's pretty much it." Tigatron said with a shrug, before blowing another drone right out of the sky.

"I don't know, you could probably pull it off...you'd probably do it better than Rattrap anyway."

"Hey!" Rattrap called out.

Ravage was still listening to his songs, by now it was up to Queen's _Another One Bite's The Dust_.

While the turret group was shooting down the stragglers, the fliers were trying to take down the Aero drones who were trying to reach the shipyard.

"Waspinator! See if you can take out the lead drone!" Sonar commanded.

Waspinator flew ahead of the others, stopped in the lead Aero drone's flight path...and was promptly scrapped when the drone flew at him at top speed.

"Why universe hate Waspinatooooooooooooooooooorrrrrrrrrrrrrr? Waspinator cried out as he went spiralling to the ground.

"Did...uh...did you really expect that to work?" Buzzsaw asked.

"Well, I didn't expect him to stop it with his body, but no, not really no."

"Open fire!" Transquito yelled out to the others, as he himself let loose a volley of machine gun fire from the weapons that were concealed inside his beast mode legs.

All around Transquito, the other fliers began firing wildly at the Vehicon hordes. Although many were shoot down, many more continued their flight towards the shipyard.

"Keep firing! We can't allow them to reach the shipyards!" Noctorro called out to the others.

However, the others soon saw the shipyard rapidly approaching.

"No! No! Take em' out! Keep firing!" Prowl II yelled.

Although their shots managed to send even more Vehicon Aero drones plummeting to fiery demises, the rest were quickly closing the gap between them and the shipyard.

Suddenly however, before the Aero drones could reach the shipyard, a large blue light surrounded it. The Aero drones could not stop in time and crashed, causing them to explode on impact.

"The force field!" Buzzsaw exclaimed as he watched more Aero drones fly to their dooms.

"Looks like Rhinox and the Pterosaurs actually did it!" Airazor said.

Back at the base, Optimus had just received word that the mission to defend the shipyard had been a success. Now that the shipyard was safe, it was finally time to move to phase two.

"Rhinox, as soon as you get back, I want you and the others to prepare for Operation Exodus." Optimus Primal spoke into his communicator.

It was time to move those refugees.

Ok, end of chapter 9. This chapter was almost late by a day, due to some unavoidable and unfortunate crap, but I pulled through...barely. Sorry that it's a little short though. Another update soon. Anyway, I hope that you enjoyed, and please remember to leave a review.


	10. Operation Exodus: Part II

Wow, chapter 10 of New Beast Wars, part two of Operation: Exodus. Per the usual, I do not own Beast Wars, Beast Machines, IDW Comics or any characters associated with Transformers. Ok, this is where the story arc involving the refugees concludes, and I can say goodbye o the three useless characters of Sling, Cohrada and Longrack, who have done absolutely **nothing** since their introduction. Good riddance. Anyway, feel free to review when you're done, and please enjoy the story!

At the Maximal/Predacon base, everyone, Maximal, Predacon and refugee, were lined up in the centre of the base. There was a low murmur all about the room as people conversed. It suddenly stopped when Optimus Primal, Magmatron and Razorbeast appeared and stood on a raised platform.

"My friends" Optimus Primal said, talking into a microphone "We have good news. We know that you have endured terrible hardships while under the rule of the Vehicons, but now, your torment is finally at an end. We have arranged for a number of transports to take you to the shipyards, under heavy escort. From there, you will be flown offworld by three brave volunteers, Sling, Cohrada and Longrack, to the nearest Maximal colony." Optimus stood down.

The crowd went back to murmuring

"How can you be sure that we'll be safe?" A refugee in the back called out.

"As I had previously stated, all available soldiers will be escorting you to the shipyard. At no point will anyone be on their own." Optimus Primal said.

"When will we be moving out?" A different Cybertronian asked.

"Right now." Optimus Primal said, standing down from the podium and making his way to the garage.

"You heard him! Move out!" Spittor commanded the refugees, before attempting to herd them into the garages.

While the others moved out towards the garage, Powerpinch and Double Punch began conversing with each other.

"Double Punch! This could be our chance to escape this hellhole!" Powerpinch exclaimed to his partner in crime.

"Indeed Powerpinch, but what should we do with that scheming little insect?" Double Punch replied, referring to Antagony.

"Hmmm" Powerpinch though for a moment before answering "Kill her, we have no further use for her, and besides, she's put us through enough trouble already, she's too dangerous to leave with us."

"As you command Powerpinch. Shall I do it now?"

"Hmmm...No, we had better wait until we're safely aboard one of those escape transports."

The two then walked off to follow the others into the garage. They saw that a large number of refugees were being escorted into three separate transportation shuttles.

"Will we make it Rhinox? Are there enough shuttles for everyone?" Optimus Primal asked, turning to his trusted lieutenant.

"Yes Optimus, but barely. It's quite a shame that those scouts couldn't find any more shuttles. As it is, we're cramming these refugees on to these shuttles as if they were sardines!"

"Sardines?" Cybershark asked, his audio receptors pricking.

"Just a metaphor Cybershark, return to your post." Optimus commanded, and Cybershark replied with a salute before he walked off.

"We should move Optimus, the longer we wait, the longer those Vehicon drones will have to mobilize their forces." Rhinox said.

"I suppose you're right Rhinox." Optimus said, before turning to his troops "Alright Maximals, Predacons, are we completely ready to move out?"

Spittor walked up to Optimus "Indeed we are sir. We have fully loaded all of the shuttles and are completely prepared to move the refugees at your orders."

"Good. Then lets transform and roll out!" Optimus commanded.

All around him, the Maximal and Predacon forces began turning into their beast modes. The pilots of the shuttles, Sling, Cohrada and Longrack stared the engines of the shuttles and began moving out of the base. All three shuttles were followed by Maximal and Predacon forces.

"I just hope that we can pull this off." Optimus whispered to himself.

In the Vehicon fortress, Megatron was sitting on a throne.

"Thrust, do we have any reports on the activities of my enemies?" Megatron asked as Thrust rolled into the room.

"As a matter of fact sir, a large convoy of Maximals and Predacons has just been spotted, they seem to be escorting a trio of transportation shuttles. We believe that they hold the refugees that the Maximals had freed earlier, and that they are now moving towards the shipyard." Thrust replied in a calm, matter of fact tone of voice.

Megatron bolted upright in his seat "What? We cannot allow this to happen! Order all available drones and drone generals to converge on the Maximals location! I do not want even one refugee to step foot inside that shipyard!"

"At once sir!" Thrust said, giving off a salute before turning and leaving the room to carry out Megatron's orders.

Megatron sat back down in his seat "Those are my refugees! They are mine to turn into Vehicon drones! I will not let that fool Optimal Optimus take them away from me!" Megatron said to himself, gripping the armrests in his seat with enough force to cause the metal to bend.

Meanwhile, the convoy was proceeding along the streets of the now abandoned Cybertron. It was extremely eerie to see what had once been a bustling metropolis now almost completely deserted, save for the Maximal, Predacon and Vehicon forces. Currently, the path to the shipyard was clear and Vehicon free. Optimus could only hope that it would stay that way.

"Airazor, can you see anything?" Optimus yelled out as he drove along the ground in truck mode.

"Nothing yet Optimus, I-wait...I think there is something! Vehicons! Lots and lots of Vehicons!" Airazor warned.

Optimus cursed "Quick! All Maximal and Predacon forces! Prepare for battle! Get to your stations!"

The roads became cluttered with soldiers as Maximal and Predacon alike attempted to create barriers around the refugee shuttles in order to protect the refugees. In the air, the fliers attempted to do the same. A near impenetrable wall formed around the shuttles. Optimus could only hope that it would successfully protect the refugees from harm. Suddenly, the Vehicon hordes became visible as they rushed towards the shuttles. Optimus looked at the oncoming drones in horror. There were easily hundreds of them, and they were not limited to tank drones, there were also Jeep drones, Cycle drones, Aero drones and Stealth Drones.

"Get ready for battle! Optimus cried out as the two opposing forces quickly closed the distance between them.

"Pterosaur Squad, Terrorize!" Terrorsaur cried out, as he, Fractyl and Lazorbeak returned to robot mode and began shooting Aero and stealth drones out of the skies.

"Show no mercy squad!" Terrorsaur commanded as he shot down another drone.

Lazorbeak was cleaving the drones into small pieces with his laser, although he still had to wait for the weapons long cool down period before opening fire agin.

Scourge and Insecticon flew ahead of the others, before landing on an Aero drone. Much to the drone's horror, they began tearing him apart with their mandibles.

"Delicious, eh Insecticon?" Scourge asked with a mouthful of Aero drone scrap metal.

"Just a little heavy on the electrons, Scourge!" Insecticon replied, before taking a huge chunk out of the drone.

"Scourge, Terroize!"

"Insecticon, Terroize!"

The two transformed back into their robot modes, jumped off of the drone, and fired, destroying it. They then began cutting down a number of drones with their fire, taking down dozens of drones. On the ground, Torca and Ramulus were charging the Tank, Jeep and Cycle drones with such a fury that it was making even Powerpinch nervous. The two were clearing a large path for the shuttles.

"Quite a shame that they didn't turn out to be Predacons, eh Razorbeast?" Landsaur asked as he flung a jeep drone out of his path.

Razorbeast rolled his eyes at that little comment "They were never meant to be Predacons in the first place! All of your forces used to be Maximal protoforms!"

"Well, not all of them! Spittor, Drill Bit, Iguanas and Manterror I brought with me to Earth! They were always Predacons!"

At the front, Grimlock was keeping the Vehicon drones at bay with his fire breath, any drone that dared to venture too close was quickly burned to a crisp. Close by, Scavenger was tearing through the drones while he was in his dual drill tank mode, and laughing while he was doing so. _It's quite a shame that I didn't recruit him_ Powerpinch thought as he decapitated a Cycle drone _He would have made a good edition to my little group._ Blackarachnia was using her Transmetal 2 powers to throw debris and shrapnel at the drones, impaling them.

"Blackarachnia?" Silverbolt asked, flying next to her.

"Yes dear?"

"Why don't you do that more often? The last time I saw you do that was to Rampage during the Beast Wars."

"Huh...You know, it never occurred to me to use it so often." Blackarachnia replied, shrugging before impaling a Jeep drone on a lamppost.

Buzzsaw was helping Waspinator shoot down drones while flying. Waspinator was slightly unnerved by the hero worship that Buzzsaw seemed to be displaying.

"Quit following Waspinator! Waspinator not need fan!"

"But you're one of the original Predacons that served under Megatron! And we have the same beast mode!"

"Hey!" Scorponok exclaimed, driving up to them in tank mode "I served under Megatron too ya know! I was even his second in command!"

"Until you and Terrorsaur stuck under lava!" Waspinator taunted.

Waspinator was rewarded for this by a shot from Scorponok's tail cannon.

"Oooooohhhh...Universe...Waspinator....Hate..." Waspinator muttered in a daze.

Satisfied that he had successfully put Waspinator back in his place, Scorponok turned to face a Tank drone. He opened fire on it.

"Tankor, Pulverize!" The Tank drone cried out.

With that, the Tank drone began returning to robot mode. He easily took the blow that Scorponok had given him.

"Pathetic little bug! Do you really think yourself a tank?" Tankor taunted, as he picked up Scorponok by his tail cannon and flung him into a nearby building.

"Tankor!" Optimus Primal exclaimed, driving up to him.

"Yes! It is I! Tankor, leader of the glorious Tank Drones!" Tankor boasted.

"Thrust, Accelerate!"

"Jetstorm, Afterburn!"

Two more Drone Generals arrived and stood beside Tankor.

"I see that you are such a weakling that you require backup!" Dinobot taunted, walking over to Optimus Primal's side.

Tankor scowled "Tankor needs no backup!" he cried, before turning to Thrust, blasting him and then doing the same to Jetstorm

"Tankor, you idiot! You're not meant to attack us!" Jetstorm cried, shaking his fist.

"Bah! I'll show you that I need no assistance!" Tankor said, as he opened fire on Dinobot.

Dinobot leapt nimbly to the side

"Dinobot, Maximize!" Dinobot cried out as he turned back to robot mode.

Dinobot retaliated by using his optic lasers to hit Tankor.

"Argh! You'll pay for that little reptile!"

"Little reptile?" Dinobot cried out indignantly "Nobody calls me that! Nobody!"

Dinobot leapt at Tankor, ripping into him with his razor sharp talons. Rattrap walked over to see the carnage.

"Yikes. Looks like old Chopper Face has a berserk button!"

Jetstorm had since recovered and had taken to the skies. He was currently facing off with Silverbolt.

"You and I are not so different, Maximal!" Jetstorm taunted.

"We are as different as day and night! You are a bloodthirsty maniac who knows nothing of honour! How can we be alike?" Silverbolt replied.

"Look into your spark Maximal, and you will see what I mean! I am what you could become, if you were to abandon your allies and join us! The Vehicon hordes! Think of it! You would have power, wealth, anything!"

"I would not have my honour!" Silverbolt cried out, before firing at Jetstorm with a barrage of missiles.

Jetstorm raised his arms in a feeble attempt to defend himself, but to no avail.

"Argh!" He yelled as he was sent plummeting down to the ground.

"Jetstorm!" Thrust exclaimed as he saw his friend fall.

Thrust rushed forwards and caught Jetstorm as he was falling.

"I...have..failed..." Jetstorm said weakly "The Maximals will escape."

"Not yet! Drones, forward!" Thrust yelled out, before turning and fleeing in order to get Jetstorm into a CR chamber, Tankor rolled after them, injured but not dead.

More drones rushed towards the Maximals and Predacons. Suddenly, one of the shuttles stopped, before crashing into the round.

"Cohrada! What happened?" Optimus cried out, looking towards the downed shuttle.

"I don't know Optimus! The engines just failed!" Cohrada replied, crawling out of the wreckage.

Optimus cursed, this would make things so much harder. Suddenly, the second shuttle crashed as well, this one belonged to Longrack.

"Blast! Now we only have Sling's shuttle left!" Optimus exclaimed.

Powerpinch glanced at Antagony "What did you do witch?"

"What I was ordered to do!" Antagony snarled at Powerpinch.

"Optimus, we're not far now, the refugees can still make it by foot." Rhinox said as he lumbered alongside Optimus.

"Slag! Alright, we're going to have to be much more cautious! We've lost two transport shuttles!"

The group advanced, slowly now, in order to protect the now shuttle-less refugees.

"Optimus! The last shuttle is still functioning, shall we go on ahead?" Airazor asked.

Optimus considered it for a moment "Alright, go ahead! But take Terrorsaur and his men with you!"

Airazor saluted, before flying off with the last remaining transport with the Pterosaur Squad in tow.

Optimus looked around. Thankfully, there were no only a handful of drones left. To his left, Optimus said Vice Grip use his stun blaster in order to decommission a number of drones. On his right, he saw Cheetor mauling more drones. Soon, the group managed to reach the shipyard, where Airazor and her group were waiting.

"Optimus! Glad you could make it!" Airazor said, walking up to her commander.

"Have you found a suitable ship?" Optimus asked.

"Yes, it should be large enough to carry the refugees to safety."

Optimus nodded. He was feeling déjà vu, but shrugged it off.

Suddenly, he saw Powerpinch and Double Punch, they were running towards a ship.

"Stop them!" Antagony yelled "They're trying to steal the escape ship!"

Blackarachnia obliged, throwing a web at the two.

"Cowards!" Dinobot scowled, kicking Double Punch in the side "Attempting to flee Cybertron to keep yourselves safe no doubt!"

"That's not the only reason!" A voice from behind them said.

Everyone turned to see Antagony.

"Those two have been keeping secrets from you!" Antagony said, pointing a finger at Powerpinch "I have a recording which proves that it wasn't Retrax who killed Optimus Minor!" Antagony raised a recorder and pressed the play button.

"Excellent! Our plan to frame that fool Retrax worked better than expected!" A voice everyone recognized as Powerpinch said.

"Indeed, his attempts to escape only cemented his guilty appearance!" A different voice this time, no one had any problems as identifying it as Double Punch "Imagine how they would react if they knew that it was us Powerpinch!"

"Yes, well, I'm glad that it's not us! Now keep quiet! I don't want you to talk about it anymore, anybody could be listening!" Powerpinch groaned from inside the web, _Why did we even talk about this at all? _He thought to himself. "And delete that recording of yours, we don't want it being discovered!"

"Hey, no way! I doctored that recording so that we could frame Retrax, so I think that as a reward, I should keep the recording!"

"Fine Double Punch, you can keep your recording."

The recording ended there. Everyone present stared down at the treacherous Predacons. Finally, Magmatron broke the silence.

"You insignificant little worms! You dare to kill one of your own and frame another!"

"You two are going to be in a world of hurt when we're done with you!" Dinobot added menacingly.

Double Punch gulped, but Powerpinch remained calm.

"I think not fools!" He said, before using his claw to cut through the net "Quickly! Split up!" Powerpinch commanded to Double Punch, who followed the advice and ran in the opposite direction of Powerpinch.

A number of soldiers made to go after them, but Optimus Primal stopped them.

"Let them go! We'll go after them later, but for now our top priority is to get these refugees to safety!" Optimus said.

Magmatron scowled "Fine, but if we catch them...When we catch them, I want to be the one leading the search party!"

The Maximals and Predacons quickly loaded the refugees onto the ship, and then watched as it took off.

"There they go." Cheetor said.

"Yes, and it will not be long before they bring in reinforcements..." Optimus said, before turning and looking around "Wait, where is Antagony?"

Miles away, Double Punch had stopped for a quick break. He was leaning against a wall, if he had had lungs, then he would be breathing heavily. He knew that he could never go back, if he did Magmatron, would kill him for sure. He jumped when he heard a voice.

"You may have escape Magmatron's vengeance, but not mine!"

Double Punch took a step back. Antagony stepped out of the shadows, she seemed to be radiating malice. Double Punch took out the detonator which would activate the acid capsules in Antagony's circuitry.

"Stay back! I'm warning you! Any closer and I'll activate the acid capsules!"

Antagony growled, before activating her optic lasers. The detonator melted in Double Punch's claws. Double Punch whimpered, and took a step back, only to trip and fall.

His screams could be heard for miles.

End of chapter 10. Wow, ten chapters! Anyway, it looks like that's the last we'll see of Sling, Cohrada, Longrack and Double Punch. Little bit of trivia here, Australians use kilometres, but I decided to use miles here, it sounds so much more menacing. I hope you enjoyed it, and please remember to leave a review! Another update as soon as possible. Thanks for reading!


	11. The Cavalry Arrives

Ok, well, here we are once again, for New Beast Wars, chapter 11. I do not own Beast Wars, Beast Machines, IDW comics or any characters that are associated with Transformers. Now that the last story arc is over, we can move on to other things. I hope you enjoy the story, and please remember to review when you're done! Thanks!

It had been weeks since the refugees had been sent away from Cybertron. Retrax had been released from his cell. The treacherous Powerpinch had not been found yet, but his partner, Double Punch had. It had been a grizzly scene, parts strewn all over the place.

"Jeez, what do you think could have done this Optimus?" Cheetor had asked "Vehicons? Only, they've never been this brutal before."

"Maybe Cheetor, or maybe it was one of our own." Optimus Primal had replied.

"One of us? But who could be so brutal?" At that, the two had shot a brief glance to Magmatron.

"What? Don't look at me like that! My hands are clean...probably Scavenger."

"Hey! I didn't do this...although I do envy the murderer's handiwork..." Scavenger had replied, earning a stare from the others.

But now it seemed that their struggle against the Vehicon hordes would soon be over.

"Attention everyone!" Optimus called out as he walked into the room "I have news! The refugees have arrived at the Maximal colony on planet Dhastir, and the Maximal forces there have decided to send a fleet to aid us!"

Naturally, Rattrap and Terrorsaur were overjoyed that they would be taken from the front lines of combat. They even broke into song.

"Oh when the saints, come marching in-" They were soon cut off by Optimus.

"Don't get too excited! We'll still be fighting! And we'll have to brief the new soldiers on the current situation!" Optimus reminded them.

"But, uh, we won't be on the front lines, will we?" Rattrap asked nervously.

Optimus sighed "No Rattrap."

"Oh when the saints, come marching in!"

Optimus sighed again and walked off. He returned to his chambers and walked over the computer. As soon as he did so, an image appeared on screen.

"Optimus Primal, this is colonel Beta Maxx of Dhastir, come in Optimus Primal!"

Optimus walked over to the console. Beta Maxx was a highly respected officer. His alternate form was one of the native animals of Dhastir, some kind of large, bipedal reptile called a Srax. It had six eyes, orange scales, claws, fangs and a second, vestigial set of arms, which, while still capable of movement, appeared to be highly atrophied.

"Optimus Primal here sir." Optimus reported with a salute.

"Good, my fleet and I will be here within minutes, and I request an escort from your finest soldiers."

"Yes sir, I know just the two." Optimus said as he glanced towards the doorway.

"But Optimus, why does it have to be us!" Rattrap complained.

Optimus had just informed him that he and Terrorsaur would be sent out to escort Colonel Beta Maxx and his soldiers to their base.

"Because he specifically requested my best warriors Rattrap, and I couldn't think of anyone better than you or Terrorsaur." Optimus said sweetly.

Rattrap scowled "Save it! That stuff might fool Terrorsaur, but not me! This is the worst exploration group I've ever been assigned to!" Rattrap said as he stormed off.

Optimus stifled a chuckle. Predictably, Terrorsaur had fallen for the ruse, and was now completely concerned about the medal that he had been promised.

Later, Rattrap and Terrorsaur made their way to the shipyard, where the colonel's flagship would make its landing.

"Just think of it! A nice shiny medal with my name engraved on it!" Terrorsaur droned on, although Rattrap tried to ignore it "And a commendation! Statues, promotions, fame!"

Rattrap couldn't take it anymore "Would you just shut up? I'm sick of you talking about your damn medal!"

Rattrap would have ranted further, if not for the clicking sound of a weapon being loaded. Both turned to see Powerpinch step out of the shadows.

"Hands up fools!" Powerpinch commanded, and the two complied. "It would seem that I've found two perfect hostages! I shall use you to keep the rest of those fools from tracking me!"

"Yeah right bug brain! What makes you think that capturing us will stop Optimus from tracking you?" Rattrap asked defiantly.

"Well, there is the little fact that if he does try to find me, then I shall blow your circuitry all across Cybertron!"

Terrorsaur gulped at this.

Meanwhile, back at the Maximal/Predacon base, Optimus was talking with colonel Beta Maxx.

"Well Optimus Primal, have you sent the soldiers that I asked for?" The colonel asked.

"Yes sir, I sent two of my finest soldiers."

"Good, because I-" Suddenly, the colonel's image began to distort, before succumbing to static.

"Colonel? Sir?" Optimus asked, standing up to hit his computer, in an attempt to get it to work properly.

Terrorsaur and Rattrap looked up, the clouds seemed to be parting. Suddenly, they saw the reason why. A giant flaming piece of metal was falling, right towards them! Powerpinch seemed completely oblivious to it, despite the frightened looks on Rattrap and Terrorsaur's faces. Deciding to take their chances with Powerpinch rather than the flaming piece of wreckage, the two ran off as fast as possible.

Powerpinch balked, since when was it a good idea to flee when the maniac was prepared to shoot? He raised his gun to fire at the two, when a massive shadow passed over him.

"Eh?" Powerpinch turned to see what was causing the shadow, only to see the remains of a ship, blotting out the sun an barrelling straight towards him.

"Noooooo!" Powerpinch yelled out, raising his arms in a futile attempt to protect himself.

The ship crashed into the ground, where it scraped along the ground, and left Powerpinch as little more than a small green smear on the road. Rattrap and Terrorsaur came out of hiding from behind a building. The downed ship had caused a lot of destruction. The road behind the ship had been completely turn to pieces, and windows had shattered.

"W-what happened?" Terrorsaur asked.

Rattrap walked up to the remains of the ship. A large Maximal insignia was printed on either side, and the ship bore the name _Bountiful _in Cybertronix.

"This...this is the flagship of colonel Beta Maxx!" Rattrap exclaimed in horror.

"The guy that we were supposed to meet?" Terrorsaur asked.

"Yeah, but what happened to his ship?" Rattrap asked, more to himself than Terrorsaur.

His pondering was cut short when he looked up. The sight horrified him more than anything that he had seen before, more than Rampage, more than the sight of the scrapped Optimus Prime...even more than the _Nemesis_.

More ships were crashing, all of them were on fire.

Optimus was still puzzled as to why he had lost the image of colonel Beta Maxx, when Spittor came bursting into the room.

"Optimus! Come quick! It's...it's-!" He cried out quickly, before rushing off to alert the others.

Optimus followed him "Spittor! Wait! What's going-?" Optimus was silenced as he stepped out into the open and saw a sight which chilled him to the core.

Ships were crashing, and they were all on fire.

"By Primus..." Optimus muttered in shock as he watched the flaming wreckages of the ships crash into Cybertron.

"Quick! We have to get to those ships! There may be survivors!" Optimus commanded, looking around.

Only Spittor was there, all the others were slowly coming out to the entrance, but they would soon be too shell shocked to move.

"Quick, Spittor, we need to move!" Optimus commanded.

"But the others-" Spittor began.

"Are too stunned to move, you and I are the only ones who can get there fast enough, so move!"

The two transformed and made their way to the closest wreckage sight. When they finally arrived, they saw Terrorsaur and Rattrap standing in front of the ship, completely still.

"Terrorsaur! Rattrap! What's the situation?" Optimus Primal asked as he walked up to the duo.

"It...it's the colonel's flagship Optimus..." Terrorsaur said, not taking his eyes from the wreckage of the ship.

Optimus groaned. So that was why communications had gone down!

"Did you check for survivors?" Spittor asked.

Rattrap shook his head, trying to break out of his daze "Cripes! Survivors! We didn't think-" Rattrap began, before being cut off by Optimus.

"It doesn't matter now! Just help us look!" Optimus commanded "Beast Mode!"

Optimus turned into his beast mode before scaling the side of the ship. He smashed open a viewing port on the ship's bridge before clambering inside. Spittor and Terrorsaur also changed into beast mode. Terrorsaur flew into the ship while Spittor climbed it while in frog mode. Rattrap stood where he was.

"Hey! What about me? I can't fly or climb!" Rattrap cursed, before hesitantly attempting to climb the structure.

In the bridge, Optimus, Terrorsaur and Spittor were viewing the scene. The bridge looked devastated, consoles had melted, wires were hanging everywhere and dead Maximals strewed the interior. They all bore strange pieces which gave some sign of their beast modes. One of them, an ensign, appeared to be some bizarre alien fish, another, a lieutenant, seemed to be a carnivore, with bony ridges on his head. Optimus kept glancing at the corpses until it settled on the one that he had been looking for.

"Colonel Beta Maxx." Optimus whispered as he walked over to his corpse, slumped over in his chair, head at an awkward angle.

Rattrap had finally managed to reach the bridge, and pulled himself inside.

"Well don't everybody help me at once!" He muttered, not noticing what the others were staring at.

Rattrap looked up and saw what had the others undivided attention.

"Oh..." Was all Rattrap could say.

"How could this have happened?" Spittor asked, completely shocked by what he had seen.

"I don't know Spittor, but I aim to find out." Optimus said, before closing the colonel's optics.

Later, at the Maximal/Predacon base, Fractyl, who had been tasked by Optimus Primal to find out why the fleet had crashed, was working at his computer. He believed that he had discovered why nothing had landed safely. He rushed to find Optimus.

"Optimus! Optimus Primal!" Fractyl called out, running to his leader.

"Yes Fractyl, have you discovered why the Dhastirian fleet was destroyed?" Optimus asked.

"Yes sir, indeed I have. You see, it's the orbiting satellite grid. Someone, somehow managed to convert it into a massive planetary laser defence grid! No ships can enter or leave the planet's atmosphere without being shot to pieces!"

Optimus frowned "But how could something like that be done? I didn't think that it was even possible!"

"Well, apparently, it is possible, because the Vehicon hordes did it!"

In his citadel, Megatron was laughing.

"Ha! That will teach those meddlesome Maximal fools into poking their noses where it doesn't belong!" Megatron said.

"Indeed, lord Megatron." Thrust said "It was definitely a successful plan, my congratulations to you."

"Ahhhh yes, what good is being supreme leader of Cybertron without loyal sycophants praising you daily?" Megatron asked himself, not noticing Thrust bristle as he said that.

"Indeed, lord Megatron." Jetstorm replied, hovering into the room "Where would any leader be without subjects to rule under them?"

Thrust shook his head. Megatron was bad enough without Jetstorm encouraging him.

"Thank you Jetstorm. Now, leave me, I wish to alone so that I can watch the recording of those Maximal ship's crashing!"

Thrust and Jetstorm exited Megatron's throne room.

"Why the hell did you do that?" Thrust hissed at Jetstorm.

"Because Thrust, a leader with a large ego is a weak leader, easy to manipulate and control!" Jetstorm replied, raising his clawed hand and closing it into a fist.

"Ah, I see now. Good work, soon we shall overthrow that pompous idiot and bring control back to those who rightfully deserve it!"

"Yes, our masters shall be pleased when we have removed that wild card Megatron and restored the rightful order to Cybertron."

As the two strolled down the halls, they laughed uproariously, imagining Megatron's downfall.

And there you have it, the end of chapter 11. Well, that's the demise of Powerpinch, it took a ship to crush him into a thin paste, but he's dead. The thing that I liked most about this chapter was the Maximals with alien beast modes, really enjoyed writing about them. I hope you enjoyed it, I'll have another update soon for you to look forward to. Anyway, thanks for reading, remember that I am open for constructive criticism and please remember to leave a review, thanks!


	12. Immortal Sparks

Well, New Beast Wars chapter 12. I do not own Beast Wars, Beast Machines, IDW comics or any characters that are associated with Transformers, pity. Anyway, let's continue, Optimus Primal and his merry band of Maximals, Predacons and one ex Deception managed to successfully evacuate the imprisoned Cybertronian refugees, and were expecting reinforcements to arrive. Unbeknownst to the Maximals but knownst to us Megatron managed to convert the orbiting satellites into a laser defence grid. Spaceballs jokes aside, lets continue with the story, don't forget to leave a review when you're done! Thanks for reading!

Optimus Primal, the Maximals and Predacons were at one of the Dhastir ship crash sites. Currently, they were looking for any salvageable equipment. They didn't bother searching for survivors, a scan made by Fractyl and Vice Grip earlier had shown that there had been none. So far, they had found four mega cannons and a number of smaller turrets, which would greatly increase the fortification of the base.

"Not a bad haul, eh Optimus?" Cheetor asked, walking up to his leader.

"I suppose so Cheetor..." Optimus said faintly.

Cheetor sighed "Look, I know that this looks bad, I mean, it was raining ships only yesterday, but we've been through worse. Remember the _Nemesis_?"

"It's not the gravity of the situation that troubles me Cheetor, it's the loss of life. A whole Maximal fleet alive one minute and dead the next. We've already lost so much, in the past weeks, we've lost four of our soldiers, and I suspect that we may lose even more before this war is over." Optimus said sadly, turning his head to watch Vice Grip carry a steel beam.

A short distance away, Dinobot was sifting through a pile of scrap metal, looking for anything that might give them some sort of advantage over the Vehicon hordes.

_Kill them_

"Eh?" Dinobot asked, looking up from his work and turning to see who said that.

No one was close to him. Dinobot could see Rattrap chatting up Sonar, the Pterosaur Squad lifting up a mega cannon and Packrat shirking his duties as usual. _I should go over there and teach that lazy little-_

_Devour them, crush their sparks_

There was no denying it this time, someone had spoken.

"Who said that?" Dinobot asked, whirling around.

_I did_

"Where are you? Show yourself coward!"

_I can't do that_

"Why not?" Dinobot snarled, oblivious to the stares that he was receiving from those closest to him.

_Because I am-_

"Yo, Chopper Face! What's the deal?" Rattrap asked walking up.

"The voices, did you hear them?" Dinobot asked, grabbing Rattrap in his talons.

"Eh? Are you feelin' ok there Chopper Face?" Rattrap asked.

_Crush him, he is insignificant_

"There it was again!" Dinobot shouted, attracting even more attention.

"Uh, maybe you should get back to the base, that sun musta fried ya circuits or something'." Rattrap said, gently pulling away from Dinobot's grip and lowering his arms for him.

"No! I heard someone! I am telling you, someone else is here!"

"What's the trouble here?" Optimus Primal asked, walking up to the pair, along with Rhinox and Cheetor.

"Dinobot says he's hearin' voices." Rattrap answered before Dinobot could say a word.

"Is this true Dinobot?" Optimus asked.

"Yes, but I know these are here! I hear them! There is some kind of presence here!" Dinobot replied angrily.

"What, like ghosts?" Cheetor asked.

"No! I mean something alive is here! It's malevolent and vicious!"

"That's enough Dinobot. Maybe the stress of finding any salvageable parts has made you hear things, I suggest that you return to base and take a nice long rest." Optimus said.

"But Optimus-!" Dinobot began, before being cut off.

"No buts! Go back and get some rest, I guarantee, you'll feel like a new bot."

Dinobot reluctantly began walking back to base, muttering curses under his breath.

When he arrived back at the base, he went straight to his room, shut the door, laid down in his bunk and shut his optics.

_Destroy this place, destroy everything_

Dinobot shot bolt upright.

"I knew it! There is something here! Who are you?" Dinobot asked, looking around the room.

_Oh, don't tell me that you don't recognize me, I'm hurt_

"Who are you?" Dinobot asked again, with more anger in his voice this time.

_What? You don't remember me...brother?_

Dinobot growled "I have no brother! Reveal yourself liar!"

_True, we might not actually be brothers, but without me, you would not even be. Even as we speak, a piece of me exists within you._

Dinobot stared for a second, before opening his chest compartment. He was shocked and horrified by what he saw.

There was not one, but two sparks resting there.

"What? How can this be?" Dinobot asked in horror.

_When I died, your predecessor's spark returned from the Well of Sparks, and he lived again, in you, in us _

_However, my spark remained, when I died, I made my way here_

Realization dawned on Dinobot "Rampage! You live?"

_In a manner of speaking, yes_

_I could probably make an image of myself, if you would prefer_

In truth, Dinobot would have preferred to have Rampage out of his systems, but before he could say as much, a bright light shot out of his second spark. Dinobot let out a yell, the pain was incredible, and he collapsed. From the beam of light, a form began to take shape, starting with the legs and working up. Soon, a clear image of Rampage was standing in front of Dinobot, and the pain quickly abated.

"R-rampage?" Dinobot asked weakly.

"In the flesh, or so to speak." The image of Rampage said.

"Get out of my body!" Dinobot commanded angrily.

"I think not, I have no other body, and no way to leave. You're stuck with me."

Dinobot reached out and grabbed Rampage's spark. Instantly, Rampage's form began to flicker.

"Not if I rip you out and leave you to your fate!"

Despite the threat, Rampage remained calm.

"I sincerely doubt that. If you tried it, I might die, for good this time, but then again, so would you. The strain of ripping out my spark would take its toll on you. Besides, even if you did survive, ridding me from your body would also rob you of your healing abilities, how else do you think you survived the _Nemesis'_ crash?" Rampage asked.

Dinobot hesitated, if what Rampage said was true, then ripping out the spark might kill him, and he doubted if his original spark would be able to return for a second time.

"So I'm supposed to accept you living within me?" Dinobot asked with a scowl.

"It would seem that way, I'm glad you seen sense, no use in both of us dying...again."

"But why would you want to stay? I thought that you allowed yourself to be killed?"

"True, but that was only to see just how far Depth Charge would go to get revenge. I'm glad to see that deep down, he was just as twisted as I was." Rampage laughed maniacally at this.

Dinobot growled, stuck with an insane Maximal experiment with a twisted sense of humour, this would be a nightmare!

"Now, I think it would be best to return to my spark, I can't have anyone else knowing that I'm here, can I?" Rampage asked.

"And what makes you think that I won't just tell them of your continued existence?" Dinobot asked.

"Well, for one thing, I doubt that they would believe you, if I wanted to, I could conceal my spark deep within you, and besides, I could always just do this..." Rampage trailed off, and Dinobot began experiencing excruciating pain that shot through his whole body.

Rampage began laughing again.

"Ahhhh, how the tables have turned! I remember when our positions were reversed! Revenge certainly is sweet!" Rampage gloated as he watched Dinobot on the ground, writhing in obvious pain.

With that, Rampage's ghostly image collapsed on itself, changed back to light, and disappeared back into Dinobot's second spark. When Rampage's essence was completely back inside his spark, Dinobot's chest cavity closed, seemingly on its own, and once again, the pain vanished.

Dinobot growled "For now, you coward!"

_O villain, villain, smiling, damned villain, isn't that something you would say, aberration?_

Dinobot growled again, he did not like to be mocked. Rampage would pay not only for that remark, but also for having the gall to use him in such a manner.

_Now, better get your rest aberration, we wouldn't want you to exhaust yourself, now would we?_

Dinobot reluctantly complied, lying himself down on his bead and closing his optics.

He was plagued by nightmares of his friends deaths, all the while, Rampage was laughing, just laughing that monstrous laugh of his.

Back at the crash site, Rhinox was going through the overturned ship's large bomb bay and Spittor was accompanying him.

"So, what exactly are we supposed to be looking for here?" Spittor asked, hopping alongside Rhinox, even though he was still in robot mode.

"We're assessing the damage, if it looks like any of the missiles might explode, then we move out, give the alert and retreat to a safe distance." Rhinox replied, gently moving aside a scrap heap.

"Right, and how far away _is_ a safe distance?"

"Oh, about...four microquads." Rhinox replied.

Spittor gulped "R-really? That far away?"

"Well, this is a _Virtus-_class heavy cruiser, each one has enough power to wipe an entire city off the face of a planet." Rhinox explained.

Spittor whistled "Yikes. I'm glad that you never used one of these things on us, they would have torn our _Potestas-_class assault ships ta shreds!"

"Indeed, the _Potestas'_ always had great firepower, but little shielding, whereas the _Virtus' _managed to incorporate both strength and shielding, although at the cost of speed, which was significantly reduced."

Suddenly, the two heard an explosion close by.

Spittor bristled "A missile?" He asked hesitantly.

Rhinox shook his head "No, if it were one of the missiles, we'd be dead right now. This was much closer, it sounded like it was coming from outside."

The two briefly glanced at each other, before running out of the ship and into the open. It was chaos, Vehicon Tank and Aero drones were all over the place. Maximals and Predacons were trying their best to defend themselves, but there were just so many drones. Spittor noticed Packrat running in their direction. As Packrat tried to run past, Spittor stretched his leg out and tripped him.

"Man up ya stupid git!" Spittor snapped while Packrat whimpered and tried to crawl away. Spittor sighed and stepped on Packrat's tail "Oh for Primus' sake! Rhinox, would you do the honours?"

"Gladly" Rhinox said, picking up Packrat with one hand and brandishing one of his legendary chain guns in the other "Start firing."

Packrat nodded quickly and began joining in, while Spittor and Rhinox charged and opened fire. All around, battles were being fought. Grimlock managed to down a low flying Aero drone with his fire breath, causing it to smash into the side of the ship. Razorclaw and Bantor were working together, taking out as many drones as possible while crouching behind a particularly large pile of salvaged scrap for cover. The Pterosaur Squad quickly took to the sky and began firing wildly left and right at the drones, downing a number of them. Rattrap was working with Sonar. Sonar took to the air, carrying Rattrap in her claws while he opened fire on the drones.

"Jeez, I never thought that scrappin' drones coulda been this much fun!" Rattrap said.

"Well, I doubt that you've ever scrapped anything while flying." Sonar replied.

"Yeah, you fliers have all the luck! Meanwhile, I'm stuck on the ground with nothing but a cool paint scheme and a set a wheels!" Rattrap said, making Sonar chuckle.

Back on the ground, Rhinox was becoming worried "Optimus! We've got to move! If we continue to fight near the ship, then the missiles in the bomb bay might go off!"

As if on cue, Grimlock shot down an Aero drone. It went spiralling into the bomb bay, flaming as it went. Optimus and Rhinox exchanged wide eyed glances.

"MOVE!" Optimus yelled out the top of his lungs, before converting into plane mode and flying away.

The other Maximals and Predacons followed their leader's lead and charged as far away from the downed ship as they could. The drones exchanged puzzled glances, before slowly walking up to the ship.

The mushroom cloud was quite a sight to behold.

"Whew!" Optimus sighed in relief.

Despite the fact that a missile had exploded, every one of his soldiers had managed to get away safely. The same could not be said however of the drones, whose parts were parts were currently still raining down. As he was walking along the hallways, Optimus saw Dinobot.

"Ah, Dinobot, how are you? Fully rested I hope?" Optimus said, walking up to him.

"Er, yes Optimus, completely." Dinobot said, trying to walk away.

Optimus stopped him, sensing something "Dinobot, is there something wrong?"

"No, no of course no Optimus. I'm fine."

"Ok then, just remember to take it easy."

Dinobot walked off without saying a word. _I'll have to keep an eye on him, something's up_ Optimus thought, before turning and walking off.

End o' chapter 12. Well, I finally got a chance to put in the Rampage plot, which I've been planning for ages. I hope it turns it well and I hope that you enjoy it. I hope that you enjoyed the chapter and would like to remind everyone that I am open to constructive criticism, and to please leave a review. Thanks for reading!


	13. Error 404: History does not exist

News Beast Wars chapter 13. Per the usual, I do not own Beast Wars, Beast Machines, IDW comics or any characters that are associated with Transformers. Yikes, sorry that this one is so ridiculously late, but there have been a lot of...complications in my writing, the original chapter 13 wasn't very good, it followed Spittor and Terragator, but there wasn't much plot to it, and I couldn't decide where I was going with it so I scrapped it...well that, and laziness. Thanks for reading!

The Maximals and Predacons were assembled in front of the Cybertronian Archives. The Cybertronian Archives were used to contain all of the history of Cybertron since before the Great War. At the entrance of the Archives stood a statue of Optimus Primal, holding the Golden Disc. Suddenly however, the statue was blown apart. Hundreds of Tank drones were advancing on the Archives, and the Maximals and Predacons were trying to halt the advance, or at least stop it while the scientists of the group attempted to download all of the information from the Archives.

"Fractyl! Rhinox! How much longer will it take? We can't hold out forever!" Ramulus said into his communicator, pausing to shoot at a Tank drone.

"It will take a while more Optimus, we still haven't even downloaded one quarter of all the information stored here." Rhinox replied.

"Well, isn't there some way to speed the process up?"

"Optimus, the Cybertronian Archives contain millions of year's worth of Cybertronian history! I can't simply rush this, or we run this risk of losing years of history!"

Optimus sighed "Alright, I understand, but please, try to work as fast as you can!" Optimus turned and shot down another Tank drone.

There seemed to be no end to the drones, and for every drone that was shot down, another two took its place. Terragator was providing covering fire for Spittor, who was leaping from drone to drone, oozing venom that was rendering the Tank drones as nothing more than twitching wrecks. Bantor was in his beast mode, a bizarre combination of mandrill and tiger. He was currently ripping and shredding his way through the multitude of Vehicon drones mercilessly. B'boom was tossing explosives into the drones midst's and watching them go off. But despite all of this, there were still so many drones, and it looked like they would soon overrun the front lines.

"Argh!" Optimus cried out as a shot went whizzing by his head "Maximals! Predacons! Retreat! Fall back into the Archives!"

And with that, the soldiers on the outside began to retreat into the Cybertronian Archives. Razorclaw and Tigatron covered everyone else's retreat, and together the two managed to cut down at least three Tank drones before their own position was overrun. The Tank drones breached the entrance and were ready to destroy the archives, only to meet more opposition from the balcony. Rattrap was leading a number of soldiers who were all on the balcony, while Cheetor had a detachment on the ground floor. They were using pillars as cover, which they would duck out from and open fire on the drones. Transquito was working alongside of Lazorbeak, and together, the two were cutting down an incredible number of drones with their combined firepower, which was quite impressive. Meanwhile, up on the balcony, Terrorsaur, Waspinator and Razorbeast were doing their best to snipe down as many Vehicons as possible. Despite their efforts however, it looked as if the drones would still break through their line of defence.

"Shi-ark!" Ramulus' curse was cut short when a stray laser hit him in his right shoulder "Rhinox! We can't take much more of this out here! How much more time do you need?"

"Do you have any idea just how much information is contained here? Even with all of our available technology, it would take hours to download all of the data!" Rhinox replied

"Well ya got two minutes, give or take, before these damn drones completely overrun our position and destroy all of that data! So get your asses in gear and MOVE!" Ramulus shouted, shooting at the seemingly endless hordes of Tank drones that were coming towards him.

Cheetor shuddered, this all seemed like something in one of those old Earth horror movies, the ones where the zombies would crawl in through any available openings and maul the heroes until there was nothing left.

"Damn it!" Ramulus cried out as the Tank drones began tearing down a hastily made barrier that the Pterosaur Squad had constructed earlier "Rhinox! Hurry the hell up!"

"I can't hurry up! This is a slow and delicate procedure, if I rush things anymore than I already am, then we could lose the data!"

"Oh, I'm sorry, please, continue, take your time, because, you know, it's not as if hundreds of God damn Tank drones aren't tearing down the God damn walls we built to fortify this crapshack!"

"Ramulus! We've only collected one third of all of the information stored in here!"

The Tank drones had not completely torn down and barricade and were now making their way to Rhinox, Fractyl and Optimus Primal's position "Blast! Too late! Move, move move!" Ramulus cried out as the Tank drones blew a hole in the wall separating the main hallway from the data storage chamber. Optimus Primal looked up, saw the drones and opened fire.

"Rhinox! We have to unplug! There's not enough time, we have to go!" Optimus cried, shooting down a Tank drone, which was then crushed when several others all clambered over it to get to the trio's position.

"But Optimus! These halls contain the entire history of Cybertron! If we lose it, then we lose our entire history!" chino exclaimed.

"Now Rhinox! There's no time left!"

Rhinox stared at Optimus in bewilderment. How could he possibly order him to abandon all of the knowledge that had been acquired since before the Great War? He would have argued more, but Fractyl tore out the downloading device and ran off with it. Optimus noted that Rhinox was rooted in place and turned to his comrade.

"Rhinox, we have to go! Hurry, before we're trapped!"

"Gone...it will be all gone..." Rhinox muttered in a daze.

Optimus cursed, before going back for his friend and forcibly dragging him away from the console.

A few minutes later, the assembled Maximal and Predacon forces were standing on a hill, overlooking the events that were unfolding. It was a scene of unimaginable horror: the Tank drones were completely destroying the Cybertronian Archives, and in a flash, millions of years worth of knowledge were lost in the blink of an eye.

Rhinox moaned, although Waspinator seemed completely oblivious to it "Waspintor not see what so bad! Waspinator get out of it without being blown to scrap for once! Waspinator happy!"

Magmatron, on the other hand, was seething "Gah! I need something to shoot damn it!" It was at this point that he noticed Waspinator.

Optimus Primal walked up to Rhinox and placed a hand on his shoulder "I'm sorry my friend, but we did all we could. And, please, try to look on the positive side of all this, we managed to save some of the information."

Rhinox suddenly turned on him "Positive side? Don't you understand? We just lost millions of year's worth of Cybertronian history! The history of our ancestors is gone forever! And do you know huh much we saved? Only a third! One third of millions of years worth of history!" Rhinox turned and stormed off.

Optimus sighed and looked towards Fractyl "Fractyl? Is it really that bad?"

"I'm afraid so Optimus. We managed to save some of the more important information, but I'm afraid that the rest if gone forever..." Fractyl replied with a sad shake of his head.

Optimus shook his head "Right...everyone, back to base, we'll need to download all of that information to a safe source."

And with that, the Maximals and Predacons sadly trudged back towards their base.

Meanwhile, Rhinox was still angry. He was walking along the streets of Cybertron, not particularly caring or noticing where he was going.

"Going anywhere in particular, Maximal?"A voice asked, causing Rhinox to look up.

There stood the leader of the Tank drones, general Tankor. Rhinox instinctively pulled his chain guns out, prepared for a fight.

"Wait, put those away, I only wish to talk." Tankor said, raising his hands to show that he was unarmed.

Rhinox slowly, hesitantly lowered his dual chain guns "What do you want with me?" he asked.

"I merely wish to propose an...alliance."

Rhinox snorted "An alliance? With you? You're the one who ordered the destruction of the Cybertronian Archives!" Rhinox said, raising his weapons again.

"Wait! I did not wish to do that! I was ordered to, by a power far greater than my own! You see, I had no choice!"

"There's always a choice!" Rhinox yelled, raising his weapons to open fire.

Suddenly, Rhinox felt a sharp pain in his back, followed by a searing jolt of electricity. Rhinox looked back as the world began to fade. He saw, to his horror, a Predacon stun disc, a bladed weapon that would render him unconscious for at least a mega cycle. As his vision started to fade, Rhinox saw a small, slender shape approach him, then everything went dark.

Tankor looked up "I needed no help spy! I could have handled him on my own!"

"The boss wants him back alive, laser brain!"

"Bah! I do not care what Megatron wishes!" Tankor replied, spitting when he uttered Megatron's name.

"I was referring to the Tripredacus Council, you idiot!"

"I would rather not take orders from them ether!"

"Well you take orders from them, and as I'm one of their agents, you will also take orders from me, so get moving and take the Maximal back to base!"

Tankor grumbled, but followed the order and dragged the unconscious Rhinox back towards the secret base that the Vehicon drones had constructed, under orders from their generals. As of the present, it was still a secret from Megatron, and the generals would prefer to keep it that way.

As Tankor dragged Rhinox back to base, Antagony looked around to make sure that no one had had spotted her, before making her way back to the Maximal and Predacon base. It would do her no good for people to know where here true allegiances were.

In his room, Dinobot was pacing.

"Argh! There has to be some way to remove that irksome, cannibalistic freak from my core!" Dinobot said, as he continued his pacing.

_There isn't, so don't try it_

Dinobot growled "Be quiet! You may be inside of me, but that does not mean that I have to like you being there!"

_Don't complain, this could be worse_

"How could it possibly be any worse?" Dinobot asked.

_You're tempting fate here, you know that, don't you?_

And with that, a searing bolt of pain shot through Dinobot's systems. Dinobot cried out and collapsed onto the ground as the pain caused him to spasm. Then, just as quickly as it had come, it vanished, leaving no trace of pain at all.

_Now, why don't you stop complaining and shut up?_

Dinobot growled again "I am the one in control of this body! You cannot simply treat me like garbage!"

_Think again aberration, you seem to forget that I can and will torture your pretty little spark at even the slightest provocation_

"They say that cowards die many deaths, let us hope that I only have to get through one of yours!" Dinobot said, before returning to his thoughts.

He expected to be tortured for that last little remark, but to his surprise, remained fine. Nevertheless, he decided that it would do him no good to continue mocking the monstrous crustacean that was currently residing his spark containment compartment.

In the Vehicons hidden base, Tankor had finally arrived, and was currently carrying out the task of placing Rhinox in a stasis field, which would prevent him from waking and keep him from being a threat.

"We've got big plans for you, Maximal." Tankor whispered.

He was completely unaware of the medical drone that was hovering behind him, recording his actions.

Well, end of chapter 13. Again, I'm really sorry that it was so late, I'll try to make sure that the next one comes out sooner, if I can. Anyway, that answers the questions of who really controls the Vehicons, hope you enjoyed that little twist. I'll also get around to adding some more stuff involving Dinobot, Rampage, Rhinox and eventually Airazor, I think it's about time she got her turn in the spotlight, don't you? Hope you enjoyed it, and thanks for reading New Beast Wars!


	14. Revelations and Rebellion: Part I

Well, here we go again, New Beast Wars, chapter 14. As usual, I do not own Beast Wars, Beast Machines or IDW comics. Last chapter involved Rhinox being kidnapped, the true masters of the Vehicon hordes being revealed and Megatron spying on is underlings. Well, now that we have the introduction out of the way, let's get on with the story, don't forget to leave a review when you're done. Thanks for reading!

At the Maximal/Predacon base, all of the soldiers were assembling. Most of them were worried, they had not seen the Maximal scientist Rhinox since he had stormed off after getting into an argument with Optimus Primal. That had been two days ago. While the majority of the Maximals were primarily concerned with Rhinox's wellbeing, the majority of the Predacons (sans Vice Grip) were more worried of the fact that should Rhinox give away any valuable information, their entire operation could be compromised, and they would all be tracked down, captured and ruthlessly executed by the Vehicons. While the group was muttering amongst themselves, Optimus Primal took to the podium.

"My fellow Maximals and allied Predacons, I have grave news. After two days of searching, we have still not been able to find hide nor hair of Rhinox. This leads me to suspect the worse-"

"No, Optimus! Rhinox can't be terminated!" Cheetor exclaimed.

"I'm afraid that it is very real and distinct possibility Cheetor. Which is why I'm unofficially calling of the search-" Optimus' statement was met with a cry of outrage from those who had stronger morals and ethics.

"This is monstrous!" Silverbolt cried out.

"Dishonourable!" Dinobot exclaimed.

"An outrage!" Vice Grip yelled.

Optimus held up his hands in an attempt to placate the mostly angry crowd (several of the Predacons could not care less) "Wait, I said I was calling off the search _officially, _we'll still be out searching for Rhinox, but only in small groups so as to throw the Vehicons off the trail, if they think that we've given up on Rhinox, then it may be much easier to track him down."

At this, the crowd quietened. It might not have been much of an improvement, but it was still something.

"Now, the first search party will be comprised of Razorclaw and Retrax..."

Meanwhile, in the Vehicons hidden base, Jetstorm was overseeing the process of monitoring Rhinox.

"Well Maximal, it would seem that you are totally helpless!" Jetstorm gloated.

"Not...helpless..." Rhinox said weakly through ragged breaths.

"Oh? Well, I think I beg to differ!" Jetstorm said, before pressing a button which sent thousands of electric volts into Rhinox's systems.

Rhinox's body hung limp, held up only by restraints that tethered him to the wall. After this latest torture, Rhinox could only groan weakly. Jetstorm cackled maniacally at this

"Well Maximal scum, it looks like you have been weakened enough for me to go to stage two..."

And with that, Jetstorm brought in a large metallic claw on wheels.

"What...?" Rhinox asked weakly.'

"This, my Maximal friend, is a spark extractor, it will allow me to rip your spark right out of your body!" Jetstorm explained, a wicked grin lining his face.

Rhinox's screams of agony echoed of the cavernous walls of the secret base, but of course, only Jetstorm was around to hear them.

Exactly one solar cycle had passed since Optimus Primal had called the assembly to announce the use of small, unofficial search parties. Despite the high hopes that Optimus had had for the operation, Razorclaw and Retrax had not been successful, failing to find any information on Rhinox's whereabouts whatsoever.

Optimus cursed and pounded his armrest "Blast! I was so sure that we would find something."

"Look, Optimus, let's just give it some time, ok?" Airazor said, attempting to assuage Optimus "It's only been one solar cycle, no one ever finds anything in one, mere solar cycle."

Optimus sighed "Yes Airazor, I suppose that you're right, but I'm still disappointed in the mission's failure."

Razorclaw cleared his throat, and Retrax glared at Optimus.

"I didn't mean your efforts, I'm just upset that the mission didn't come to any results." Optimus said, attempting to placate his two slightly annoyed underlings.

"Whatever..." Razorclaw said, storming off.

"I didn't get released from some dingy Maximal torture chamber on a false charge just to be criticised!" Retrax muttered, before leaving.

Optimus sighed and placed his head in his hands, while Airazor simply rolled her optics.

"Perhaps next time, you should apply just a little more tact to these situations, hmmm?" Airazor asked.

Suddenly, the two heard a faint droning noise.

"Huh? Airazor, do you hear something?" Optimus asked.

"Yes I do Optimus, it sounds like...a bee..."

Before the two could begin to search for the noise, a cyberbees dropped down from the ceiling and hovered in front of their faces.

"Wait a nano klik...doesn't that cyberbees seem somehow...familiar?" Optimus asked.

"I...I think so Optimus, I think that it belonged to Double Punch...he named it...Beeline I think." Airazor replied, struggling to remember.

Beeline began buzzing around the room quickly.

"What do you suppose he wants?" Optimus asked.

"I don't know Optimus, but perhaps we should wait and see what he does before he reacts?"

Beeline suddenly flew over to a computer console and plugged himself in. Instantly, a recording began to play on the console's security monitors. The contents of the tape both stunned and horrified Optimus and Rhinox.

"It...it can't be!" Optimus whispered in horror.

"Optimus, if this recording is accurate, then we may be in great danger."

"I agree, we'll have to call the others in."

Antagony was taking a stroll in the corridors when she heard a voice over the intercom system.

"Could Antagony please report to the assembly hall? I repeat, could Antagony please report to the assembly hall?"

Antagony scowled, it was probably just Optimus Primal calling here there so he could berate her for her questionable ethics and tactics again. Nevertheless, she decided that she should obey the order anyway, it would do her no good to act suspicious. However, when Antagony walked in, she was surprised to see not just Optimus, but also Airazor, Tigatron, Dinobot, Blackarachnia, Silverbolt, Rattrap, Cheetor, Vice Grip and Buzzsaw. _Something isn't right here _Antagony thought to herself.

"You...you wanted to see me Optimus?" Antagony asked, staring at the others.

"That's right Antagony, we need to have a serious discussion." Optimus said sternly.

Antagony was starting to become nervous, something was definitely wrong here. Then, the mech fluids in her circuits chilled when she saw what was behind the others.

The recording of her reporting in to general Cicadacon was playing on a screen behind them.

Antagony opened her mouth in surprise. _How could they have-? _And then Antagony noticed Beeline, perched on Cheetor's shoulder.

"You! You did this!" Antagony cried out, pulling out her weapon and aiming it at Beeline.

In response, the assembled Maximals and Predacons pulled out weapons of their own.

"Not so fast traitor!" Cheetor said.

"Antagony" Optimus said carefully, hoping that he and his men would not have to resort to violence "Slowly lower your weapon to the ground and place your hands over your head. We have a few questions that we would like to ask you"

Seeing all of those gun barrels pointed at her, Antagony decided that she had no choice. She knelt down and slowly placed her weapon on the ground, before standing up again. As she began to move her hands behind her head, she noticed the lights hanging from the roof of the assembly hall. She smiled, before activating her optic lasers and destroying the overhanging lights.

"Wha-?" Optimus cried out, startled as the room became pitch black.

"Beast Mode!" A high pitched, feminine voice cried out, accompanied by the telltale signs of someone transforming.

"Stop her! She's trying to escape!" Tigatron exclaimed.

"Gee, thanks for pointing that one out, Captain Obvious." Blackarachnia said, and Optimus could just picture her rolling her optics.

Suddenly, a dim light lit up the gloom. Optimus and the others turned to look for the source of the light, and saw Dinobot emitting it from his eyes.

"I think she went in here!" Buzzsaw said, hovering next to a grate that appeared to have been torn open.

"Blast! Rattrap, Blackarachnia, Buzzsaw, do you think that you could fit through that grate?" Optimus asked, turning towards the three soldiers that he had chosen.

"At once sir!" Vice Grip said, giving Optimus a salute as he did so "Beast Mode!"

"If I get to be the one to "interrogate" her, then sure. Beast Mode!" Blackarachnia cried out as she transformed.

Rattrap shook his head "Uh-uh! No way! There is nothing you could say to make me go after that psychotic Unicron spawn!"

"Rattrap, please! With every second that we waste, we put Rhinox in more and more peril! Antagony may have the answer as to where he is!" Optimus pleaded with Rattrap

Rattrap sighed "Fine, I'll do it, but I expect a bonus for this! Beast Mode!" Rattrap cried out, before transforming into a Transmetal rat and scaling the walls and climbing into the ripped open grate.

"Huh" Cheetor said "You know, I think that's the first time I've ever seen him go into beast mode without going straight to his wheels, weird."

In the vents, Blackarachnia was leading Vice Grip. They had just come upon an intersection when Rattrap crashed into the back of Vice Grip.

"Hey! What gives, what's the hold up?" Rattrap asked.

"We've got an intersection, it looks like we're going to have to split up." Blackarachnia stated.

"Split up? No way in he-!" Rattrap stopped when he noticed that Blackarachnia had already made her way into the middle passage.

Vice grip turned to Rattrap "Well, since Blackarachnia took the middle intersection, then I guess I'll take the left and you can take the right."

Rattrap only muttered something under his breath, at this point, he was beyond openly complaining.

As Vice Grip made his way down the left passage, he thought he heard laugher "Antagony? If that's you, come out! We have you surrounded!" Vice Grip lied.

Vice Grip continued to make his way forward. As he did so, the laughter grew louder. Vice Grip finally saw where the laughter was coming from: a small tape recorder. As Vice Grip puzzled over it, he heard a faint groaning sound. He looked down to see that the screws that held up the vent were missing.

"Oh sla-aaaaaggggghhhhh!" Vice Grip cried out as the vent gave way from beneath him.

Vice Grip and the section of vent crashed, landing right on top of Transquito and Manterror.

"Ugh...Vice Grip...Terrorize..." Vice Grip said in a daze, before he returned to robot mode

"Whatzzz the big idea?" Transquito asked as he began to pull himself out from underneath the wreckage.

"Yeah, we were just walking along and bam! The sky falls on our heads!" Manterror added, helping Transquito to his feet.

"It's Antagony!" Vice Grip replied, struggling to stay upright "She's a traitor! I was hunting here down, but she tricked me!"

"A traitor you say?" Manterror asked "Well, its been a while since we got the chance to scrap a traitor, why don't we join you on your mission?"

"Sounds like a plan!" Vice Grip said, before hurrying off down the corridor, followed closely by Transquito and Manterror.

Meanwhile, Blackarachnia was still pursuing Antagony. Suddenly, she thought she saw a figure run by.

"Rattrap? Vice Grip?" Blackarachnia asked hesitantly.

"Yeah?"

Blackarachnia turned, startled, and came face to face with Rattrap.

"Hmm, if you're here, then that figure was either Vice Grip or Antagony!" Blackarachnia said, more to herself than Rattrap.

"Huh? What figure?" Rattrap asked, confused.

"Never mind, just follow me!"

The two scurried down the passage, hoping to find Antagony. Suddenly, another blur sped by them.

"Aha!" Blackarachnia exclaimed in triumph, this chase would not last much longer.

The two chased after Antagony, however, when they rounded a corner, they could not find a trace of her.

"Uh?" Blackarachnia asked, before looking up.

There was another passage, this one going straight up.

"Quick, this way!" Blackarachnia ordered.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm coming! Sheesh, hold ya horses!" Rattrap muttered.

Meanwhile, Airazor and Buzzsaw were borrowing a page from Waspinator and Scorponok, by shooting into the vents.

"Are we sure that this is safe?" Airazor asked "What if we were to hit one of our own?"

"Relax, my motion sensors are specifically locked on to Antagony's signals, there's no chance of hitting one of our guys." Buzzsaw assured her.

Back in the vents, Blackarachnia and Rattrap were still following Antagony, when they heard a strang hissing sound.

"Eh? Hey, Blackarachnia, what's the sound?" Rattrap asked.

"Ugh, never mind the sound, what's that funky smell?"

Suddenly, the two found themselves sprayed in a strange, colourless mist.

"Argh! What is his stuff?" Blackarachnia asked as she wiped her optics.

"I don't know, but I'm guessin' that it weren't eau de cologne!" Rattrap replied.

Suddenly, Buzzsaw's motion sensor sprang to life.

"Oh, hey! I think we got something!" Buzzsaw exclaimed excitedly.

Airazor peered over his shoulder "Hmmm, but there's two blips on the screen."

Buzzsaw waved "Ah, probably just a glitch, now, get ready to fire!"

Blackarachnia and Rattrap suddenly heard a strange noise, it sounded like...shooting.

"Uh oh! Don't look now, but it looks like someone's firing!" Rattrap cried out.

Indeed, it did appear that someone was firing at them, as laser bolts were shooting up from the undersides of the vents. The duo made to turn around, but saw that more lasers were being fired in that direction too.

"Who's firing at us?" Blackarachnia asked.

Not wishing to end up dead in the vents, Blackarachnia tore them open. However, in his haste to leave, Rattrap ran into Blackarachnia, sending the two sprawling through the hole.

"Blackarachnia? Rattrap?" Airazor asked.

"And just what did you think you were doing, firing wildly into the damn vents?" Blackarachnia asked.

"My apologies my friends, but my motion sensor detected Antagony's movement, it must be glitching out again!" Buzzsaw said, before he began hitting the motion sensor.

"No" Blackarachnia whispered "Rattrap! That mist that we were sprayed with, it must have been Antagony's pheromones! She knew about the motion sensors and tricked all of us!"

"But then...where is she now?" Airazor asked.

Outside, Antagony skittered to safety. When she thought that she was a safe enough distance away, she decided to transform.

"Antagony, Terrorize!"

Now that she had been discovered, there was only one place left to turn. Antagony scowled at the idea of going to the Vehicons. Worse, she would have to pretend to be loyal to that fool Megatron! Antagony began grumbling to herself, before she began the long walk to Megatron's citadel.

Inside of Megatron's citadel, two Medical drones were escorting Tankor to Megatron's throne room.

"What is this about?" Tankor growled at the two drones.

"Lord Megatron wished to see you." One of the drones replied.

"Well duh! I worked that one out! What do you think I am, stupid?"

The drones either didn't hear the question, or refused to acknowledge it. Probably for the best, it would not be wise to enrage Tankor. When they arrived at the throne room, the drones released Tankor and floated to the doors.

"Well Tankor, it would seem that the obedience chip that is inside of you has not taught you any lessons, pity..." Megatron said, before pushing a button on the armrest of his throne, causing electricity to surge into Tankor's frame.

"Ahhhh! Lord...Megatron...why?" Tankor asked, struggling to speak through the pain.

"Because Tankor, you have been plotting! You have a Maximal imprisoned and you did not inform me! You are a traitor and so you must be dealt with accordingly!" Megatron said, his voice growing louder and more menacing with every accusation.

Despite the pain, Tankor stood up, much to the surprise of Megatron.

"Yes, "lord" Megatron, I was plotting! Yes, I captured a Maximal and did not inform you! But I am not a traitor! I never served you, you arrogant fool! Tankor serves only Tankor!" Tankor yelled out.

"Impressive, the amount of electricity flowing throughout your circuits should be enough to take down a fully grown ick-yak, and yet you still stand. Impressive, yessss."

To further add to Megatron's surprise, Tankor reached up, rolled his hand into a fist, and smashed it into his head.

"Wha-?" Megatron began, before Tankor ripped out the circuitry from his head and pulled out the obedience chip.

"No more Megatron! No more servitude! This. Is. War!"

Aaaaand, end of chapter 14. Yeah, I bet you all forgot about Beeline didn't you? Well, he's back now and he really showed Antagony not to mess with Double Punch! It looks like Rhinox is in a bit of trouble, and what about Megatron? Will Tankor really rebel against his leader? Find out in the next chapter! Thanks for reading!


	15. Revelations and Rebellion: Part II

Here we are then: New Beast Wars, chapter 15! Insert Generic Disclaimer Here: I do not own Beast Wars, Beast Machines, IDW comics or any characters that are associated with The Transformers (not that I'd want to be known for owning Beast Machines, ugh). Well, continuing from where we left off, Rhinox was at the mercy of Jetstorm, Antagony's lies were revealed and Tankor was planning to secede from Megatron, yep, I think that pretty much sums it up! Anyway, I hope you enjoy this chapter, and I hope that you leave a review when you're done. Thanks for reading!

In the hidden Maximal/Predacon base that was concealed in the sewer system under the streets of Cybertron, the soldiers who lived there were looking for a particular Predacon, or perhaps not a Predacon at all, if the Tripredacus council were neither descended from Autobots or Decepticons, then perhaps neither was Antagony. They had been searching for mega cycles, and had still not found a single trace of the treacherous little ant.

"Well Optimus, it looks like Antagony is no longer in the base." Cheetor said, walking up to Optimus, Beeline still perched on his shoulder.

Optimus sighed "It appears that you may be right Cheetor. Blast! If I had known that she was an agent of the Tripredacus Council, then I would have left her to rot in that jail cell until the Vehicons tore her spark out of her frame and reformatted her into one of them!"

Cheetor stepped back, his eyes wide open in shock "You can't really mean that Optimus?"

Optimus sighed again "I'm not even sure anymore...I'm afraid that with all of these Predacon influences around, I may be becoming more ruthless. Speaking of Predacons, why are you carrying that thing around with you?" Optimus asked, pointing to Beeline.

Cheetor looked sheepish "Oh, well I figured that since he did help us, I'd sorta take him on as my own little sidekick. Double Punch may have been a bad guy, but that doesn't mean that this little guy is."

Optimus rolled his optics "Ok, fine, you can keep Beeline as your "sidekick" Cheetor, but just be careful of what you say and do in front of him, ok?"

"Will do big bot!" Cheetor said, giving Optimus a salute while Beeline buzzed indignantly, apparently insulted that Optimus considered him as a potential threat.

"Excuse me? Optimus? You wanted to speak with us?"

Optimus turned to see Airazor and Bantor walking up to him and Cheetor.

"Ah yes, Cheetor, would you mind giving us some time?" Optimus asked, turning to his young ally.

"Sure thing Optimus." Cheetor said before he started walking off, Beeline buzzing closely behind him.

Optimus watched Cheetor and Beeline walk away, before turning back to Airazor and Bantor "Now, I've asked that you two come and speak with me because I've decided that you two will act as the solar cycle's "Rhinox Search Squad". Do you think that you can handle it?"

"I'm sure that we'll be able to do it Optimus." Airazor said.

"Sir, I promise you that we shall do our very best to track down Rhinox!" Bantor assured Optimus.

With that, the two turned to leave. Optimus could only pray to Primus that this time, they would succeed in their mission, and Rhinox could be brought back safely.

Meanwhile, Tankor had called an assembly amongst the other Vehicon Drones. They were discussing whether or not they would secede from Megatron.

"I say that we should abandon Megatron! We were fine before that arrogant fool showed up and took control!" Tankor exclaimed, pumping his fist into the air for emphasis.

Thrust shook his head "Tankor you stupid fool! We need to maintain our cover! Megatron needs to think that we're loyal until the reinforcements arrive, or else he'll just blow them out of the sky with that damn satellite laser net of his!"

"Yes, I agree, we need to pretend that we are the perfect, obedient little lackeys that do as they're told." Jetstorm added.

"Oh yes, you would take his side wouldn't you!" Tankor said, jabbing a finger at Jetstorm "You two have been friends for the entire time that we've ruled Cybertron! Friends are for the weak!"

Jetstorm bristled "Why don't you come over here and say that! Right over here, in the firing range of my lasers!" Jetstorm raised his weapons, only for Thrust to lower them for him.

"Easy Jetstorm, infighting would make us no better than those inferior descendant of the Autobots and the Decepticons."

"We, on the other hand, are definitely with you Tankor!"

Thrust, Jetstorm and Tankor all turned to see Quake, Blastcharge and Spy Streak, the leader of the Stealth drones.

"You idiots!" Jetstorm exclaimed "If we let this dunce secede from Megatron's control, then he'll lose whatever trust he had for us! Then he'll never let us give clearance to the reinforcements when they arrive!"

"Perhaps Jetstorm, but I no longer wish to serve under that fool Megatron, and I honestly don't believe that you do either!" Spy Streak said.

"Don't underestimate Megatron!" Thrust warned "Even if he were alone, he is still dangerous! You should know that, especially you Tankor! You were the one he took his aggression out on!"

Tankor growled "Don't you ever mention that to me! I will make Megatron pay for doing such a thing to me! You know I will! You all know I will!"

"Megatron is too powerful! You could not hope to defeat him, even with your combined forces! If you lose, you will surely be terminated!" Thrust said, now it was beginning to sound as if he was pleading with the others.

"I'm sorry Thrust, but nothing you can say could make us change our minds. We are going to war, and we _will_ defeat Megatron...even if it costs us our lives..." Quake said.

His words were so strong, that Blastcharge decided not to ruin their effect by speaking.

Meanwhile, Airazor and Bantor were patrolling the streets of Cybertron. Airazor was scouting the city from the skies in her robot mode, currently, there was no need for her to be in her alternate mode, a Transmetal hawk, while Bantor was running around in the empty streets and alleys as a strange combination of baboon and tiger.

"Airazor, can you see anything from up there?" Bantor asked, speaking into his communicator.

"Negative Bantor, what about from down on the ground? Have you seen anything suspicious at all?"

Bantor sighed "Negative. At this point, I'm beginning to think that this whole search and rescue mission is nothing more than a wild snipe hunt!"

"Bantor! Rhinox is my friend and one of our fellow Maximals!" Airazor chastised.

"I'm sorry Airazor, it's just that...well, we've been looking for a while and we still haven't found so much as a breadcrumb!"

"I know, but we must continue our search for Rhinox. And who knows? We might still find him!"

"Maybe but I-Wait! Stop!" Bantor suddenly commanded, changing his tone of voice from distant to serious.

"Why? What is it?" Airazor asked, concern creeping into her voice.

"Oh man! It looks like the Vehicon generals, and they're all coming out of a wall!" Bantor reported.

"A wall? Hmmm, perhaps they're using hologram technology to mask a hidden entrance?"

"Uh, maybe, I guess that seems likely..." Bantor said uncertainly.

"It's actually quite possible, Tigatron once told me of a time when Blackarachnia, Terrorsaur and Waspinator once used such a ploy in order to plant explosives under our base."

"Riiiiiiight, but do you have any orders for the moment, cause, uh...they look kinda pissy?" Bantor asked as he ducked behind a building in order to keep the Vehicons from spotting him.

"Stay hidden, when they leave, we'll go down and investigate that little wall of theirs, hopefully it will shed some light on Rhinox's disappearance." Airazor commanded, landing on top of a large building, hoping that she hadn't been seen.

"Affirmative! Huh, you now, it's kind of funny, but from here, it kinda sounds like those Vehicon generals are...arguing?" Bantor leaned closer, hoping that he might be able to make out some of their conversation.

"Probably just a little power struggle, the Predacons have them all the time." Airazor reassured, laying flat on the rooftop.

After a few moments, he arguing stopped, and Quake, Blastcharge and Spy Streak departed, leaving only Tankor, Jetstorm and Thrust. From his position, Bantor was only barely able to make out their conversation.

"Please Tankor, don't do this! We need you to keep this charade up at least until the Council sends in more agents and sufficient reinforcements!" Thrust pleaded with the Tank drone general.

"My mind cannot be swayed Thrust! I will fight that tyrant, and by Unicron, I will win! Blastcharge, Quake and Spy Streak can see that, why can't you?" Tankor asked his former allies.

"Quake is a power hungry fool, Spy Streak is a personality challenged follower and Blastcharge is an idiot! If you desert us, then we cannot promise your safety when he retaliates! You know which side we will pick!" Jetstorm said, the anger apparent in his voice.

Tankor huffed "If that is your decision brother, then so be it! I will see you on the battlefield, and believe me, if I get the chance, I _will _crush your frame with my treads!" And with that, Tankor stormed off to rally and prepare his forces.

Thrust and Jetstorm remained where they stood.

Thrust sighed "By Unicron, how can it have come to this? Our own forces...split! Our brothers turning against us, it doesn't make any sense!"

"I know Thrust, but we know what we must do, for the good of the Council, we must remain outwardly loyal to that insufferable fool Megatron, and when the time is right, we shall destroy him! Now, we must report back to that fool, even though I'd like to join Tankor's little rebellion, it would be a serious problem if he thought that all of his generals had abandoned him" Jetstorm replied, putting a clawed hand on Thrust's shoulder

"VEHICLE MODE!" The two cried out, returning to their vehicle forms and leaving simultaneously.

"Whoa! Airazor, did you get that?" Bantor asked, his eyes wide open from the shock of what he had just heard.

"Indeed, it sounds as if the Vehicon forces are preparing to enact some sort of civil war! This is fantastic! With the Vehicon loyalties split, then they may be sufficiently weakened for a full scale assault!" Airazor cried with joy, soon they would no longer be confined to the sewers, soon they would be free to retake Cybertron!

"It looks like things may be looking up for once!" Bantor exclaimed "Quick! Let's go back to base and report out findings to Optimus!"

"Not yet Bantor, I want to see what's behind that hologram before we do anything else." Airazor said.

"Well, ok, but let's hurry up!"

Airazor leapt off of the building, stretched her wings and soared, before making a surprisingly gentle landing on the ground.

"Now, let's take a look at that wall!"Airazor said, walking up to what was a seemingly average wall "A-ha!" Airazor cried triumphantly as her hand passed through what appeared to be solid steel.

"Well, I suppose we had better go inside then?" Bantor asked "Maybe I can trash the place with a few well placed explosives" Bantor pulled out two mines which could be stuck to walls.

Airazor frowned "Hmmm, maybe, let's just see what's on the inside first, ok?"

The two made their way through the hologram and found themselves within a narrow corridor. The corridor continued for a while, before opening up into a large room.

"Hmmm, it looks to be some kind of laboratory..." Airazor said, looking around the room "I wonder if-"

Airazor's musings where cut short by a gasp. She turned to see Bantor, standing still and staring at something. Airazor followed his gaze and gasped herself.

Chained to a wall, apparently unconscious, was Rhinox.

"R-Rhinox?" Airazor asked hesitantly.

When she received no reply, she and Bantor slowly walked up to him.

"Rhinox?" Airazor repeated, before placing a hand on him.

Rhinox stirred "A-Airazor?" Rhinox asked faintly.

"He's alive!" Bantor exclaimed in shock.

"Yes, but he might not be for much longer unless we do something about this. Quick Bantor, help me get him down!" Airazor commanded.

Together, the two destroyed the chains that were supporting Rhinox and gently lowered him to the ground. If not for his slight moans, the two would have thought him deceased.

"What do we do know Airazor?" Bantor asked uncertainly.

"We'll take him back to base, hopefully Razorbeast and Fractyl will be able to repair him." Airazor paused "Bantor, I want you to destroy this place, leave nothing standing."

Bantor gave a salute "Yes ma'am!"

Bantor began placing explosive charges all over the base, leaving no surface uncovered in remotely detonative mines. When he was done, he helped Airazor to support Rhinox, and together, they managed to get him outside. Rhinox tried to help by standing, but he was too weak. When all three of them were outside and a good distance away, Airazor turned to Bantor.

"Destroy it!"

Bantor raised a small, handheld detonator and pressed the button. At once, all of the remote explosives went off, destroying the interior of the base, vaporising anything and melting whatever was strong enough to withstand the force of the explosion. A fireball rocketed out of the hidden entrance, destroying the hologram emitter and sending smoke into the air.

Bantor turned back to Airazor "It is done."

Without a single word between them, they began carrying Rhinox back to base.

A few mega cycles later, Thrust and Jetstorm returned to the base.

"Wha-?" Thrust asked when he saw that the entrance was unhidden.

The two rushed inside, horrified to see scorch mark adorning the walls. They burst into the lab, only to see that everything had been destroyed.

Well, perhaps not quite everything.

"The protoforms! Is it still safe?" Thrust asked Jetstorm.

Jetstorm flew across the room and pressed a hidden button on the wall, causing a piece of it to swivel around, revealing a blank protoforms and a container which held a piece of Rhinox's spark.

Jetstorm breathed a sigh of relieve "Excellent! We can still proceed with Operation Savage!"

End of chapter 15. Well, I hope that you guys enjoyed it, it was certainly fun to write. Next chapter will have a full on battle scene with lots of carnage for you to look forward to. By the way, Rhinox still has his spark, only a portion of it was taken, sort of like Rampage. Anyway, thanks so much for reading, and I promise, another update soon!


	16. Revelations and Rebellion: Part III

Here we go again! New Beast Wars, chapter...16! Wow, quite the milestone, eh? And at over forty thousand words to boot! Anyway, I do not own Beast Wars, Beast Machine, IDW comics or any characters that are associated with The Transformers...oh well. Well, last time, Tankor was planning to enact a rebellion, along with Quake, Blastcharge and Spy Streak, leaving only Thrust and Jetstorm on Megatron's side! Rhinox meanwhile, had been captured, tortured and partially maimed by the Vehicons, before being rescued by Airazor and Bantor. Now that we have the recap out of the way, let's get on to the story! Thanks for reading!

The two Maximals, Airazor and Bantor, were waiting in the hidden base that the Maximals and the Predacons had constructed in Cybertron's sewer system. After they had brought in a badly damaged Rhinox, they had been greeted by a number of shocked Maximals and Predacons. Since then, Razorbeast and Fractyl had taken Rhinox away so that they could tend to his injuries as best they could. Currently, Airazor and Bantor were waiting outside of the med bay, hoping that Razorbeast and Fractyl could repair Rhinox. Bantor was pacing back and forth across the room while Airazor was just sitting on a chair that was beside the door to the med bay when Optimus Primal walked in.

"Bantor, Airazor, I'll need you both for the debriefing." Optimus said.

"But Optimus, Rhinox is still in there and-" Airazor began, before Optimus cut her off.

"I know that you're worried about Rhinox Airazor, but this is important, believe me, if it wasn't I would let you wait out here until someone told us how Rhinox is doing. Come along now."

Airazor sighed and got up to leave. Bantor stopped pacing and went after the two. The three of them walked until they reached Optimus Primal's quarters, which they entered. Inside, Optimus moved to his desk and sat behind him, before offering seats to Airazor and Bantor.

"Now" Optimus said "I want you to tell me exactly what happened..."

And so Airazor and Bantor relayed the tale of how they had been out patrolling the streets of Cybertron, looking for Rhinox when they had spotted the Vehicon drone generals coming out of a secret base hidden by a hologram emitter, how the generals had been arguing amongst themselves, declared war on each other and then departed their separate ways. They told of how they had investigated the hidden base, discovered a dungeon and Rhinox. They told of how they had released Rhinox from his chains, dragged him to safety and destroyed the base through Bantor's extensive knowledge of explosives. Once this had been accomplished, they had returned to base with Rhinox, where they had reported in and handed Rhinox over to the closest thing the Maximals and Predacons had for medics.

"You say that the Vehicons are about to engage in a civil war?" Optimus asked, stroking his chin "You have done well, this information could prove to be extremely useful!"

"Thank you Optimus, but now, may we return to Rhinox? I...I mean we would like to see how he is doing." Bantor said.

"Of course, you deserve to be with him, after all, you were the ones to rescue him. Go to him."

Airazor and Bantor departed, leaving Optimus on his own.

Meanwhile, Waspinator was talking to Terrorsaur and the other members of the Pterosaur Squad.

"Please let Waspinator join Terrorsaur's club! Waspinator beg for it!" Waspinator pleaded with Terrorsaur.

"We've been through this before Waspinator! You can't join! Only pterosaurs in the Pterosaur Squad!"

"But Waspinator must be in Terrorsaur's club! Waspinator really want it! Waspinator no longer be ridiculed by Maximals or mean Predacons! Maybe Waspinator might not get blown to scrap anymore either! Please!"

Terrorsaur rolled his optics "Jeez Waspinator! Alright, look, you can tag along with us on our next mission, and if you prove yourself and show us that you have the right stuff, then maybe, just maybe, we'll let you join!"

Waspinator leapt up into the air out of joy "Oh thank you Terrorsaur, thank you! You not be disappointed, Waspinator show you that Waspinator has the right stuff! Waspinator not let you down, no, no, no!"

While Waspinator was buzzing around the room in delight, Lazorbeak turned to Terrorsaur.

"Uh, Terrorsaur? Are you completely sure that this is a good idea?"

"Relax Lazorbeak, he's my best friend, but he's still an idiot, and prone to exploding, so the chances of him actually making the team are slimmer than all three of us besting a petrorabbit!" Terrorsaur whispered to his teammate.

Fractyl leaned over "Well actually, the chances of us besting a petrorabbit would actually be quite high if we were all to aim for its phylangeopods."

Terrorsaur and Lazorbeak paused their conversation and stared at Fractyl.

"...I thought that you were a geochemist?" Lazorbeak asked.

"Well, yeah, I am, but I do dabble in alien zoology." Fractyl replied.

The three turned to see that Waspinator was still buzzing happily about the room, although he seemed to be calming down a bit. Suddenly, Magmatron appeared, knocked Waspinator down and walked over to the Pterosaur Squad.

"Terrorsaur, we've been ordered to go and scout Sector Theta, you and your little group need to come with me!"

"Uh, ok...how come we didn't hear anything about this over the intercom?" Terrorsaur asked.

"Secret mission. We've received word that the Vehicon forces are in a state of unrest and may even be about to turn on each other, so it's our job to verify the mission, no use going about giving the men false hope." Magmatron replied.

"Yay! Waspinator get to go on minion with Terrorsaur! Waspinator prove that Waspinator has the right stuff!" Waspinator cried out in joy

Magmatron growled "No! You are not coming!"

Waspinator looked saddened "But...but Terrorsaur said-"

"No. End of discussion bug!" Magmatron interrupted

Terrorsaur cleared his throat and hesitantly stepped up to Magmatron "Uh, excuse me sir, but I did promise Waspinator that he could accompany us on our next mission, and I promise that he won't get in our way, I'll make sure of that."

Magmatron rolled his optics "Ok, fine then, the bug can come! But make sure that he doesn't get in my way!" With that, Magmatron stormed off, leaving the Pterosaur Squad and Waspinator to hurry after him towards the exits.

In Megatron's citadel, the two loyalist Vehicon generals, Thrust and Jetstorm, were warning Megatron of the threat of the Separatists.

"What?" Megatron growled "First Tankor and now those fools Quake, Blastcharge and Spy Streak have deserted me too?"

"Yes my lord, they have deserted us." Thrust said.

"Are you telling me, that you two are the only ones left?" Megatron asked in a dangerously quiet voice that made Jetstorm fear for his life.

"Y-yes sir, I'm afraid so. But never fear, for we shall remain by your side until the very end!" Jetstorm replied.

Megatron scowled "Somehow that doesn't quite fill me with confidence Jetstorm! Blast!" Megatron placed his head in his hands for a few moments, before turning to a Medical drone "We'll have to begin the process of unleashing the Moles, its a little earlier than I would have liked, but at this point, I don't see any other option!"

"At once, lord Megatron." The drone said, before flying off to carry out Megatron's order.

"Now, we must prepare for the imminent battle. Thrust, take your men and go to Sector Theta, with any luck, we'll be able to set up a solid defence around the area and prevent Tankor and his wretched follower's from taking it!"

"At once sir!" Thrust replied, giving his lord and master a salute, before turning and rolling away.

"As for you Jetstorm, I want you to take a contingent of Aero drones and scout the area, I want you to search out Tankor and his men, and when you do, I want you to bomb them all to high hell!"

"Yes my lord, it shall be done!" Jetstorm said, also saluting Megatron, before leaving to carry out Megatron's orders.

Now that he was alone, Megatron frowned. _I might not be able to repel a full scale rebellion, even with those two fools with me! _Megatron thought to himself. _Still even if I don't win, at least I can give them one humongous repair bill!_

In Sector Theta, Magmatron, Waspinator and the Pterosaur Squad had just arrived and were now scouting the area. Magmatron had since split into his three components, Skysaur, Seasaur and Landsaur, and while Landsaur and Seasaur had gone off to search together, Skysaur had decided to accompany the Pterosaur Squad and Waspinator.

"...And that is why geochemistry is an integral part of Cybertronian science!" Fractyl concluded as he flew alongside Skysaur, who merely sighed, resigned to his fate of listening to Fractyl.

"Ah, good, it looks like we're here!" Terrorsaur said.

"Finally!" Skysaur exclaimed, glad that he would not have to put up with Fractyl's rantings any longer.

"Waspinator see something!" Waspinator exclaimed, pointing with one of his insect mode legs.

Indeed, there were a number of Tank drones just over a nearby ridge.

"Predacons, land over there!" Skysaur ordered, and the group set down "Predacons, Terrorize!"

As the group transformed back into robot mode, the Tank drones turned in their direction.

"Uh, Skysaur, do you think they saw us sir?" Lazorbeak asked.

"Nonsense, they couldn't have seen us, and even if they did, at this range, they couldn't hit a-JESUS CHRIST!" Skysaur exclaimed as a Tank drone missile slammed into Waspinator, scattering his parts everywhere.

"Oooooohhhh, Waspinator's whole body hurt!" Waspinator moaned as he lay on the ground in a smouldering heap.

"Predacons, attack!" Skysaur commanded, rapidly flying to face his enemy head on.

"Rawk! You heard him men! Beast mode!" Terrorsaur commanded, returning to his Transmetal pterosaur alt mode in order to follow Skysaur.

"Uh, well...I suppose we had better go after them, eh?" Fractyl asked Lazorbeak.

"Damn right! Finally, a chance to see some action!" Lazorbeak replied, before jumping into the air and flying towards the drones, an action which Fractyl mimicked, not wanting to be left behind.

While Lazorbeak and Fractyl flew off towards their foes, Waspinator, still smoking and slightly charred, picked himself up and flew after them.

"Wait for Waspinator! Waspinator can still fight, then Terrorsaur see that Waspinator has the right stuff!"

Skysaur, being ahead of the others, arrived at the site where the Tank drones were amassing first and soon began firing wildly into their midst. The Tank drones attempted to retaliate, but Skysaur was too quick, easily dodging blasts while returning fire. Having caught up, Terrorsaur began flying overhead and had switched to vehicle mode and was now firing missiles at the amassed Tank drones. Fractyl, Lazorbeak and Waspinator arrived and were each going for their respective weapons. Lazorbeak was cutting large swathes of destruction with his laser cannon, bringing death and devastation to the drones. Waspinator meanwhile, had brought out his twin pistols and was using his optic lasers and was now firing madly into the crowd, hoping to prove to Terrorsaur that he did indeed have "the right stuff". Fractyl, being a geochemist and therefore the least armed out of all of the group, was shooting down drones with the twin lasers that were perched on his shoulders. Together, the five of them were destroying a large number of drones, yet there were still so many.

"Terrorsaur?" Fractyl asked.

"Yeah?"

"Was getting into this fight really the smartest thing to do?"

"Uh..."

"Yeah, didn't think so."

Meanwhile, in the Maximal/Predacon base, Optimus had assembled a small group of soldiers. The group included Transquito, Manterror, Manta Ray, Cheetor, Scorponok, Rotorbolt and Injector.

"I'm sure you're all wondering why I have called you here" Optimus said, pacing back and forth across the room "Well, it is because the information that I have received from Airazor and Bantor has suggested that the Vehicons have a leader. Previously, we have believed that the Vehicon generals shared leadership, hence the belief that the war would not be won until we had eliminated all of them. I have assembled you here as part of a mission to capture the leader of the Vehicons."

Injector giggled "Assassination? Oh goody, I've been wanting to test out my spines for quite some time!"

"No Injector, this will not be an assassination mission!" Optimus said, glaring at the Fuzor.

"But Optimus, how do we know where the target is?" Cheetor asked, Beeline still perched on his shoulders.

"Good question. Earlier, while Airazor and Bantor were out searching for Rhinox, I had Rotorbolt out looking for the Vehicons fortress" Optimus motioned to Rotorbolt "I was hoping that we could plant an explosive device powerful enough to destroy it, but as Rotorbolt discovered, it was too heavily guarded. The fortress itself resides in Sector Zeta, and is in fact, the famous Decepticon Spire."

The Predacons in the group let out an audible murmur of appreciation. The Decepticon Spire was the site of the coronation of the first Decepticon and was the seat of his power, the very place where he would coordinate the attacks conducted by the Decepticons.

"Now, Rotorbolt has identified a weak spot in the Spire's defences, while the perimeters defences will detect any organic being, they won't be set off if a Transmetal were to sneak in and deactivate the security systems. Which is why I'll be leading the attack, and Manta Ray and Rotorbolt will have to accompany me inside and deactivate the security systems, allowing the others gain access."

"And what then Optimus? We just wander around blindly until we find the throne room?" Manta Ray asked, crossing her arms.

" Actually no, I happen to have a set of blueprints which we can use to find the throne room and hopefully detain the leader of the Vehicon forces without resorting to violence."

Manterror, Transquito and Injector all sighed audibly.

Back at the Tank drone's camp site, the Predacons were still shooting into the hordes of Vehicons, but by now, they were tiring, and dodging the missiles was becoming increasingly difficult.

" Dammit Terrorsaur! We can't keep this up for much longer!" Lazorbeak exclaimed, barely avoiding a Tank drone's shot.

"Hey, don't blame me! Blame Skysaur, this was all his idea!" Terrorsaur replied, before taking down another drone with a well aimed missile to the chest.

"What was that Terrorsaur?" Skysaur boomed, shooting a glare in Terrorsaur's direction and shooting a missile at a Tank drone.

"Er, nothing sir, nothing!" Terrorsaur assured.

Suddenly, a loud droning sound filled the ear. The Predacons and Tank drones all turned to find the source of the noise, and found themselves staring at hundreds of Cycle drones.

"Thrust, Accelerate!" The lead drone cried out, returning to his robot mode, and all around him, the other drones did the same.

"Thrust!" Tankor exclaimed "You have the gall to show your face here?"

"Indeed I do Tankor, and I am here to bring about the end of this little insurrection, but know this, you brought this upon yourself!" Thrust said, before opening fire on the Tank drones, his Cycle drones following their commander's lead.

"Oh good, it looks like we got us a free for all!" Lazorbeak cheered before opening fire on both the Cycle drones and the Tank drones.

"Waspinator you all that Waspinator have-" Waspinator began, before being interrupted.

"Ah shut up ya stupid insect!" Skysaur commanded "We're all sick of hearing you talk!"

Waspinator yelped in response.

At the Decepticon Spire, the fliers, who were comprised off Optimus Primal, Injector, Manterror, Rotorbolt, Transquito and Manta Ray, were flying circles around the building, looking for any available entry point.

"Aha! There!" Manterror exclaimed, pointing out a window with one of his claws.

Optimus scanned it and found that the security devices around it were malfunctioning.

"Excellent work! Manta Ray! Rotorbolt! On three, we open fire on the window and then fly through!"

"Understood sir!" Rotorbolt replied.

"Yes understood...what? Yes, of course I understood it! Don't talk down to me!" Manta Ray had since began talking to herself, a fact which worried Rotorbolt.

"Uh, sir? Are we completely sure that she should be accompanying us?"

Optimus sighed "Yes, she is necessary for the completion of the mission, her sensors are perfect for picking up energon, and we'll be raiding the energon vaults during the mission. Anyway, on three...One...Two...Three!" Optimus yelled, shooting a missile at the window, watched it shatter and rushed into the building, followed closely by Rotorbolt and Manta Ray, who was still arguing with herself.

"Well that seemed successful...No, it was successful! Don't talk back to me!"

Rotorbolt sighed, but decided to ignore it "Alright Optimus, which way to the security room?"

Optimus pulled out the blueprints "Hmmm, we need to go down a level, and then we take two lefts, a right and then a third left."

The three followed the blueprints and found themselves in the security room.

"Aha!" Optimus exclaimed in triumph "We've found it!"

"Now to shut it off." Rotorbolt muttered.

The three began searching the room, looking for something that would deactivate the security.

"Here we go!" Rotorbolt exclaimed, finding the master switch.

As he flicked it, the lights turned off and the security monitors flickered and died.

"You know, this is strange, really strange." Manta Ray said.

"Look who's talking." Rotorbolt muttered under his breath.

"How so?" Optimus asked, glaring at Rotorbolt.

"Well, there's no security forces in here, and I don't know about you, but I haven't seen a single drone of any kind since we got here!"

Optimus thought and realised that she was right, they hadn't seen a single drone all day. A thought occurred to him.

"Perhaps there are none here! Perhaps the leader of the Vehicons has them out searching for the rebels!"

"Is so, then he's made a grave tactical mistake." Rotorbolt said.

Outside, the fliers had seen that the lights inside of the citadel had gone off and has flown inside. On the ground, Cheetor and Scorponok had blaster their way inside and were getting ready to meet up with the others.

Meanwhile, in his throne room, Megatron was surprised when the lights in the room went out.

"Wha-? If it's not one thing it's another! Computer, go to auxiliary power!"

At once, a dim light activated, and the security cameras came back to life.

"What?" Megatron exclaimed, taking a glance at the security feed "Predacons in the base? And it looks like they're being lead by Optimus!" Megatron growled "Well, I'll show them!" At that Megatron strolled over to his throne and pressed a button which would activate the Spire's defensive systems.

Injector, Manta Ray, Transquito and Manterror had since split away from the others under Optimus Primal's orders. They were to look for the Spire's energon vaults and take as much as possible.

"Here we are!" Transquito said, leading the others into a circular room which held a large vault on the other side "Manta Ray! Crack that vault!"

Manta Ray walked over to the vault and was about to place a hacking device over the vault's keypad, but the vault door suddenly sprung open.

"...It's unlocked..." Manta Ray said, surprised.

She stepped inside and the others made to follow here, only for the vault to slam shut. Behind them, the entrance did the same.

"Itzzzz a trap!" Transquito exclaimed.

"Oh, brilliant deduction Sherlock!" Injector snapped.

Suddenly, the room began spinning, slowly at first, but quickly gaining speed.

"W-what's happening?" Manterror asked as he was slammed into the wall.

The roof opened up, and the three Predacons struggled to lift their heads. Above them was the Cybertronian sky and nothing else. Before they could even attempt to escape their fate, they were shot up into the air at incredible speeds, screaming as they went sailing through the air.

In the vault, Manterror turned to see that she was completely alone. Worse, there wasn't even any energon!

"Slag!" Manta Ray muttered, she debated arguing with her other personas, but decided against it, arguing would get her nowhere.

To Manta Ray's surprise, a window seemed to open in the vault. Suddenly, the walls began closing in. At first, Manta Ray was worried that she would be crushed, only for the walls to stop moving and started warping.

"Huh?" Manta Ray asked as the walls began curving until the room had transformed into a long tube.

There was a loud thunk sound and Manta Ray turned to see a large metal device lower into the room. Suddenly, the device shot forward, hitting Manta Ray and propelling her across the room and out through the window. She screamed as she went plummeting to the ground, until she landed on the bruised and moaning forms of Injector, Manterror and Transquito.

"Now I know how a pinball feels!" She muttered, before collapsing.

Meanwhile, Cheetor, Beeline and Scorponok had met up with Optimus and Rotorbolt.

"Good to see you." Optimus greeted "Now, here's the plan, we go down this corridor here" Optimus pointed at the blueprints "until we reach the elevator, which we then take to the top floor and reach this corridor here. From, there, we ignore any side rooms and continue moving forwards until we reach the throne room, where I hope the Vehicon leader will go without a fight."

They began rushing down the hallway, but as they did so, a number of small lasers began popping out of slots in the walls.

"Defensive lasers!" Scorponok exclaimed as the lasers went off.

"Keep going, we must succeed!" Optimus encouraged.

However, as they were running, trap doors began opening up under their feet. Rotorbolt let out a cry, before plummeting down a trap door, which closed shortly after.

"Rotorbolt!" Cheetor exclaimed, turning to go back for his ally.

"No Cheetor! There's nothing that we can do for him now, we just have to keep moving!" Optimus ordered.

Cheetor turned, preparing to follow Optimus and Scorponok, only to be hit by a stray laser.

"Agh!" Cheetor yelled, the wound wasn't serious, but it had hurt quite a bit.

"Cheetor!" Optimus exclaimed.

Before Cheetor could do anything, a large green tank with razor blades appeared, charging straight for Cheetor. It hit Cheetor, but he attempted to hold it back with his bare hands.

"Go Optimus, I got this one!"

"But Cheetor-!" Optimus began.

"Damn it Optimus, you need to go! We can win this war if you just capture the Vehicon leader so go!"

Optimus lingered for a moment, before running off.

"It looks like you and I are the only ones left Scorponok!"

"Yeah, well let's hope that nothing else happens!" Scorponok replied.

Back at the Tank drone camp, the Tank drones had been totally annihilated, with the exception of Tankor. But it could not be said that the Cycle drones had won either, for they too had been destroyed, the sole exception being Thrust.

"Looks like a draw!" Thrust spat, glaring at Tankor.

"Bah! This is no draw, you lost, admit it!" Tankor cried, pointing his weapon at Thrust.

Things might have escalated if not for the sudden sound of weapons reloading. Thrust and Tankor looked up to see the Predacons aiming their weapons at them.

"Yo, Vehicon scum!" Lazorbeak exclaimed "Unless you want to be vaped, I suggest that both of you leave, before my trigger finger twitches!"

Tankor growled "Stay out of this fight Predacon! This is none of your concern!"

Despite his threat, Tankor began to back off, before he turned and lumbered off.

"I too will depart Predacons, but know this, next time we shall fight, and next time we will crush both you and the traitors!" Thrust said, before driving away.

"Well, I guess we won!" Fractyl said in surprise.

"Yay! So Terrorsaur, is Waspinator part of the team now?" Waspinator asked, hope gleaming in his dark eyes.

Terrorsaur sighed "Ok Waspinator, I guess you proved yourself, you're one of us now!"

"Yay! Waspinator a pterosaur!"

Lazorbeak leant in close to Terrorsaur "You know that we're never going to hear the end of this, right?"

"Oh yeah." Terrorsaur sighed.

Back at the Decepticon Spire, Scorponok and Optimus Primal were now just outside the room which contained their objective, but it was blocked by a shielded door.

"Alright Scorponok, on three, we blow the doors down. One-" Optimus began.

"Three!" Scorponok finished, blasting a huge hole.

Optimus glanced at Scorponok, who merely shrugged "I was never much for counting."

The two stepped inside, but something was wrong.

"Wait, this isn't the throne room." Scorponok said.

Scorponok was correct, they were in a large round room which contained a single seat, hundreds of wires and dozens of security screens.

"No, I diverted your elevator and brought you to the control room instead!"

Optimus and Scorponok jumped, the voice came from the seat, but they couldn't see the figure because the chair was turned away from them.

"Show yourself coward!" Optimus commanded.

"If you insist."

The chair swivelled around to reveal...

"Megatron?" Scorponok gasped in shock.

And there we go, end of chapter 16! This could probably be considered the end of the first "season". What will happen now that Optimus and Scorponok know who really leads the Vehicons? Manta Ray, by the way, was not a Transmetal in the comics, but I decided to cahnge that, because frankly, there are way too many Transmetal IIs (Cheetor, Blackarachnia, Dinobot II, Cybershark I think, Optimus Minor, Sonar etc, etc...) and not nearly enough Transmetal...I may have to do something about that later on. Well, I hope you enjoyed it, I made it extra long for you, so I'm sure most of you are satisfied, or at least I hope you are. What's going to happen next? That's the big question! Well, I guess you'll just have to wait and see! By the way, that thing that attacked Cheetor was a Vehicon Mole, the first one so far. Don't worry though, I promise to have another update soon! Until next time, thanks for reading!


	17. Scattered!

Ok, here we are again, New Beast Wars chapter 17! I do not own Beast Wars, Beast Machines, IDW comics or any characters that are assossciated with theTransformers, more's the pity. After last chapter's cliff hanger, I'm sure that you're all anxious to see what happens next. Previously, a strike team consisting of Optimus Primal, Cheetor, Beeline, Scorponok, Injector, Manterror, Transquito, Rotorbolt and Manta Ray all began their hunt for the leader of the Vehicons. However, things soon went downhill, as one by one, the Predacons fell victim to the traps of the Vehicon leader's fortress, until only Optimus and Scorponok were left. When they finally arrived, they discovered that the leader of the Vehicons was...Megatron! Well, it was a shock to them at least. What will happen next? You'll have to read on to find out! Don't forget to leave a review when you're done and thanks for reading! Wow, longest recap ever!

"Megatron?" Scorponok gasped in shock.

"Yes, Scorponok, it is your former leader, come back from the dead!" Megatron replied with a slight bow "And Optimal Optimus, I see that you're still leading the Maximals, only know you seem to have accumulate some Predacons too, I see that once again, everyone is against me, yessss."

"But...How?" Optimus asked in shock "You gave your life so that we could get away! I saw you dive into the Vehicon hordes!"

"Ah, yes, at the time I was not the leader of the Vehicons, but I did wish you out of the way, so I stayed behind and fought off the drones, obviously I won, or else I would not be standing here now. Once I had dispatched the drones, I managed to hunt down the drone generals, where some good old fashioned beatings and fear of death allowed me to take control of the Vehicons. And there you have it! New soldiers, new weapons, new opportunities! I finally did it Optimus, I rule Cybertron and there is not a thing that anyone can do to stop me!" Megatron gloated.

"Damn it Megatron! You've gone too far this time! I thought that you had really decided to give your life for Cybertron, but now I see that nothing has changed! You were never capable of helping anyone but yourself!" Optimus exclaimed "But your reign of terror is about to end!"

Megatron smirked "Oh really? And what makes you think that you can take me Optimus?"

"Don't be a fool Megatron! You're outnumbered, there's no way that you could beat both me and Scorponok!"

"Ah, but what makes you think that Scorponok would turn against me? Have you forgotten Optimus, Scorponok was one of my most loyal followers, aside from Inferno!"

"Scorponok would not return to you Megatron! He's been through too much to return to you now!" But secretly, Optimus was beginning to fill with dread, could Scorponok really resist returning to Megatron's side.

"Why don't we test Scorponok's loyalty then? Scorponok, destroy Optimal Optimus!" Megatron commanded.

Optimus gasped and turned in time to see a missile headed in his direction. There was no time to doge it, so Optimus put his arms in front of his head in order to shield his body. The force of the explosion knocked him back.

"Scorponok! How could you? We fought on the same side, we were working to restore peace to Cybertron!" Optimus cried, not returning fire just yet, hoping that he could make Scorponok see reason.

Scorponok, in response shrugged "Nothing personal Maximal, but orders are orders, and I have to follow them to prove my loyalty!" Scorponok followed up by firing at Optimus with his shoulder cannon.

Suddenly, Jetstorm, fresh from his rebel hunt, came bursting in the room "Lord Megatron, I heard firing what's-? Enemies in the base!" Jetstorm exclaimed, looking at Optimus and Scorponok.

"Relax my dear Jetstorm, Scorponok has the situation well under control." Megatron replied, motioning for Jetstorm to remain where he was.

"Scorponok? He is one of us now?" Jetstorm asked.

"Once he saw me, there was never any doubt as to where his loyalties lay!"

Optimus had still not returned fire, even though he was getting beaten in the fight

"Scorponok please! You don't have to do this! You can be free of Megatron, you can be your own Predacon!" Optimus pleaded.

"Oh, but I don't want to be free of Megatron! I want to serve him and prove to him that I am still loyal! I have spent too much time with you Maximals and traitorous Predacons when I should have been out searching for Megatron! I should have known that he wasn't dead, those were just Maximal lies!" Scorponok replied, letting loose a volley of lasers from his shoulder cannon.

Optimus frowned, he couldn't take much more damage, and he was beginning to doubt that he could sway Scorponok, too blinded by his loyalty to Megatron to see clearly. Optimus cursed, turned and blew a hole in the wall, before leaping out.

"Flight Mode!" Optimus cried out, turning into a plane, before flying off.

"Yessss, run Optimal Optimus, run, for soon, there will be nowhere left to run!" Megatron smiled, before letting loose a villainous laugh.

Outside, Optimus could see Injector, Manterror, Transquito and Manta Ray.

"Injector! Where are the others?" Optimus asked.

"They are not with you? We never saw them come out...perhaps they fell victim to the traps, as we did!" Injector replied.

Optimus cursed, he had seen Rotorbolt fall through a trapdoor, but Optimus had assumed that Rotorbolt had simply been ejected from the building. He had hoped that Cheetor would have been able to defeat whatever had attacked him, but it would seem that that was not the case.

"Blast! We'll have to go back!" Optimus commanded.

"Go back? In there?" Injector balked "No way in hell! Last time we went in there, we were shoved into some kind of demon carousel!"

"And I was a pinball!" Manta Ray piped up, earning a few stares from the others.

"Riiiiiiight, the point is Optimus, we are not, I repeat, not, going back in that hellhole...that really cool looking, dangerous, awesome hellhole!" Manterror added.

"Hey, wait a minute, where's Zzzzzcorponok?" Transquito asked, looking around.

Optimus sighed "Scorponok is...no longer with us." He said in a low voice.

The others looked at Optimus in shock, surely he couldn't mean what they thought he meant?

"Now, I'm going in and I'm going to save Cheetor and Rotorbolt, whether any of you are willing to help me or not!" Optimus said, before turning to leave.

Optimus was stopped when he felt a hand on his arm. He turned to see Manta Ray standing behind him, closely followed by the others.

"Optimus" Manta Ray whispered "We want to help you."

Optimus gave a faint smile "Thank you Manta Ray, thank all of you."

Injector cleared his throat "Yeah well, we can't have it going around that us Predacons didn't want to fight, now can we?"

Now Optimus smiled for real "No, of course not."

"Come on, let's move!" Manterror ordered, running ahead of the others.

"Zzzzztupid fool...Wait for me!" Transquito called out, wings beating furiously to keep up.

As the group ran down the halls of the Decepticon Spire, their eyes began darting everywhere, trying desperately to find any trace of their missing companions. Suddenly, they heard a faint droning sound.

"I know that sound!" Injector exclaimed "It's-!"

"Beeline!" Optimus said.

And indeed, Beeline suddenly came racing around a corner, followed closely by Cheetor and the same new Vehicon that had attacked them earlier.

"Big bot! Boy am I glad to see you!" Cheetor cried, still running from the drone "Watch out, it shoots-!"

As if in response, the drone began shooting large projectiles from three holes in its centre. One of them barely missed hitting Cheetor but the other two hit the wall dangerously close Manterror and Transquito, the force of the explosions sending them flying.

"Oof!"

"Argh!"

In response to the sudden attack, Injector, Optimus Primal, Manta Ray and Cheetor returned fire, and together their combined fire destroyed the drone. Now that the drone was out of the way, the others rushed to check the conditions of Transquito and Manterror.

"Fine, we're fine." Transquito said, struggling to remain standing.

"Y-yeah, we can still fight!" Manterror added.

The group continued forward, searching frantically for Rotorbolt. Suddenly, they thought they heard noises. They sounded like shooting.

"Quick men, this way!" Optimus shouted, making a turn down a corridor.

The group were surprised to see Rotorbolt wrestling with a number of mechanical graspers that were coming out of the wall, letting off shots to deter them.

"Rotorbolt!" Cheetor exclaimed, standing completely still in shock.

"Jeez kid! How many times are we gonna go through this! Well, what are you waiting for? Stop gawking and help me!" Rotorbolt yelled, startling the others out of their daze.

They all rushed forward to help Rotorbolt. While Optimus Primal, Manta Ray and Transquito remained behind and started shooting at the claws, Injector, Manterror and Cheetor rushed forward and began biting and clawing at them, trying to dislodge them from the walls. Soon, the claws had been defeated, leaving nothing left.

"Ok, now that that little episode's over, you wanna tell us what happened Optimus?" Cheetor asked.

"I...I was wrong the whole time Cheetor, the leader of the Vehicons was Megatron." Optimus said.

"Megatron?" Cheetor exclaimed in shock.

The others stared at Optimus in shock, surprised by this turn of events.

"Yes, I'm afraid so. Not at first, but Megatron took control. Once we left for Earth, he took control of the Vehicons, and became supreme ruler of Cybertron. Once again, he is our enemy."

"And Scorponok?" Cheetor asked, finally noting his absence.

Optimus shook his head sadly and Cheetor sighed.

"Well...I suppose there's nothing left to do but go back to base then." Optimus sighed.

"What? Go back to base? Why Optimus? We can still take out Megatron! We can end this, right here!" Rotorbolt exclaimed.

Optimus shook his head "No, it's too risky, all of you almost died, I can't ask you to go through that again."

Cheetor stared at Optimus "Optimus, is there something that you're not telling us?"

"No Cheetor, of course not." Optimus reassured.

He had decided not to tell them of Scorponok's betrayal, it would only serve to demoralize them, which was something that they could not afford right now. It was better for them to think that he was dead, after all, he had never said such a thing, they had come to that conclusion themselves.

"Come on, let's return to base." Optimus said, in a tired and weary voice.

Sensing how tired Optimus was, none of the others decided to say anything, instead, they slowly made their way back to the base in silence.

"By Primus..." Optimus muttered when they finally arrived at the base.

It was in ruins. Flaming wreckage lay strewn everywhere, Vehicon drones lay dead and those that were dying tried to crawl away.

"What could have happened here?" Injector asked in horror.

Optimus knew. It must have been Scorponok. He had betrayed them and led Megatron and his forces straight to their doorstep. Optimus could only hope that the Maximals and Predacons had managed to escape.

"This is awful Optimus, what can we do?" Manterror asked.

"We can look for the survivors. At this point, I'd say that splitting up would be dangerous and foolish, so from now on, we stick together and don't leave each other's sight, understood?" Optimus asked.

"Yes, understood sir!" Came the replies.

"Good, we set out at once! Transform and roll out!" Optimus said to his meagre force.

In the bombed out wreckage of a building, Scourge, Scarem and Insecticon were trying their best to repel a horde of Cycle drones. Things were looking bad, a massive attack force of Tank drones had just showed and began blowing their base to tatters. During their escape, Scourge had been badly injured, and was now leaning on a walking stick for support.

"Blast! I don't know how much longer we can last out here!" Scarem said, ducking behind cover and reloading his weapon.

"If reinforcements don't arrive soon, then we're toast!" Scourge said, leaning on his walking stick, more of a staff really because of its ornate decorations, such as the crescent moon decorating the top.

Deep in the sewers, Rhinox, Blackarachnia, Rattrap, Silverbolt and Bantor were hiding from the Vehicons. When the attack came they had fled deeper into the sewers to avoid the wrath of the Vehicons. Luckily, Rhinox had managed to recuperate enough to follow them. Dinobot had been with them, but they had lost him at some point.

"Oh man, this is bad, this is very bad!" Rattrap muttered.

"Quiet rat! We don't need you pointing out the obvious and scaring everyone!" Blackarachnia snapped.

"Hey, why don't you go and lie down in front of a Tank drone!" Rattrap retorted.

"Enough!" Rhinox broke in, hoping to end the fighting "Fighting will do us no good now! We need to stick together, or else we won't make it!"

"But, how did they find us?"Silverbolt asked "They never did before, Fractyl always said that we were too far underground to show up on scans!"

Rhinox sighed "I don't know, the important thing is to stick together and hope that we find the others."

Ravage, Spittor, Terragator, Tigatron, Buzzsaw and Airazor had run into the Decepticon Crypt, barely avoiding a Cycle drone patrol. Terragator poked his head around a corner.

"Ok, it looks clear...for now at least."

"Hmmm?" Tigatron looked around, he hadn't been sure, but he had thought that he had heard...laughter?

"But now the question is, what do we do now?" Buzzsaw asked.

It was a question that was answered with silence. No one knew what they could do.

End of chapter 17 and the first chapter of the "second season" if you will. If you thought that things were bad before, you ain't seen nothing yet! Now that Scorponok has turned traitor, ratted out his former allies and scattered them across Cybertron, what could possibly happen next? I guess you'll have to find out in the next chapter! Thanks for reading, I hope you enjoyed it.


	18. Search and Rescue

Here we go, New Beast Wars, chapter 18. As usual, I am legally obligated to put this disclaimer (Unseen gun cocks) Er, I do not own Beast Wars, Beast Machines, IDW comics or any characters associated with the Transformers. Moving along, now that the legal department of The Transformers is gone-er, not that they were here in the first place-I can move on to the recap. After Optimus Primal and Scorponok discovered who the secret leader of the Vehicons was, Scorponok betrayed the others and lead a number of loyalist Tank drones to the Maximal/Predacon secret base, destroying it and scattering the soldiers who were still inside. Now, it's Optimus Primal's mission to gather the survivors and find a new base. Now that that's out of the way, I would like to remind people that I am open to constructive criticism. Thanks for reading!

Optimus Primal and the men that he had taken with him to capture the leader of the Vehicons stood in the wreckage of their base, looking for any survivors. So far, they had only found a number of dead Vehicons and the corpses of the Predacon archaeopteryx Archadis and the Maximal Transmetal tiger Apexus. Optimus sighed, it didn't look like there were any survivors here.

"Optimus, I found another body here!" Manterror called out.

The others all came over to see which poor Maximal or Predacon had met his end at the hands of the Vehicons. This time it was Wolfgang, surrounded by Vehicon corpses and still holding onto a rifle. It seemed as if he had gone down fighting to the very end.

Optimus closed his eyes and turned away "We'll take them with the surface with us to be cremated."

"Yes sir." Manterror replied softly.

Outside, Cheetor and Injector were sifting through the wreckage, hoping to find any salvageable equipment. Optimus Primal suddenly came out, cradling the body of Wolfgang. Behind him, Manterror was carrying Archadis and Transquito was carrying Apexus. Cheetor sighed, he had hoped that after Optimus Minor, they wouldn't need to bury anymore friends, now he realised how naive he had been.

"Anyone up here?" Optimus asked.

"Just Crazybolt sir...he was one of us, a Predacon I mean." Injector replied, motioning to a body that he and Cheetor had found earlier.

They began creating large bonfire, and when it was done, they put the bodies on it, watched them burn until there was nothing left and began to leave.

"Optimus! Wait!"

Optimus turned in surprise to see the Pterosaur Squad, Magmatron and Waspinator touch down behind him.

"Thank Primus that we found you Optimus!" Terrorsaur exclaimed "When we returned from our scouting mission, we saw Vehicons attacking the base! There were so many of them, we didn't know what to do...so we hid."

"At least some of us made it." Cheetor muttered, motioning at the bonfire.

Magmatron stepped forward "Well Optimus, what is the plan now?"

Optimus stared at him for a moment, uncertain of how to reply "We...we look for any survivors, hopefully there are still others who managed to survive this catastrophe."

Magmatron nodded "Very good, onwards men!"

And with that, the group moved out.

In the ruins of a bombed out building, Scarem, Scourge and Insecticon were attempting to move the number of Cycle drone corpses that had piled up when they been forced to defend themselves. They had managed to repel the assault, but barely. Scourge was no help, he was watching while Scarem and Insecticon were moving the bodies, whereas he was just leaning on his walking stick, and badly trying to motivate them to work faster.

"Come on, hurry up! If more show up, they're going to notice all these bodies and know where we are!"

"Ah shut up!" Insecticon snapped "Why don't you help out! You're not that badly injured, you only have a limp!"

"Only a limp? I'll have to rely on this walking stick for the rest of my life!"

"First of all, it's a staff, and second of all, where the hell did you get that thing?" Scarem asked, staring at the staff that Scourge was using as a walking stick.

It seemed to be bronze, and had a crescent moon perched on the top.

"I...found it!"

"You stole it didn't you?" Scarem asked.

"It was just lying around...in the Cybertronian Historical Museum."

Insecticon sighed "Frigging klepto."

Suddenly, the group heard something, they looked to each other, before frantically scrambling for cover.

"Wait! there are still bodies out there!" Scourge whispered to his comrades.

"What, you want us to go out there and move em?" Insecticon whispered back.

"They'll know we're here!"

"No way in hell Scourge!" Scarem joined in.

Suddenly, the three became extremely relieved to see that instead of hostile Vehicon drones, it was their allies. Optimus Primal was there, as was Magmatron, and their favourite punching bag, Waspinator!

"Vehicon bodies here, maybe there's someone around?" They heard Cheetor asked.

"Possibly, now we can only hope that they're alive." Optimus murmured.

At this, the insect trio leapt out, startling the rescue team.

"Wait, we're here!" Scarem shouted out.

"Yes, we're alive!" Insecticon cried.

"Scarem! Scourge! Insecticon!" Magmatron exclaimed "I see that you three at least managed to survive. Is there anyone else with you?"

Scourge shook his head "No sir, it's just us."

Magmatron shook his head "Shame. Hey, where did you get that staff?"

In an alley, Razorbeast, Ramulus, B'boom, Torca and Sonar where hiding from a Cycle drone patrol.

"Dammit Razorbeast, we shouldn't be hiding here! We should be out there, fighting!" Torca angrily said.

"I agree with Torca, hiding's for cowards and Predacons!" Ramulus added.

"Enough! You want them to hear us?" Razorbeast snapped "We can't go out there, because if we did, then we'd be ripped limb from limb, like that damn fool Crazybolt!"

"I still wanna go out there." Torca muttered.

Elsewhere, Optimus and his now significantly larger band of soldiers had discovered another battle site. This time, there were no survivors.

"Ok, try to identify them, then we'll build a bonfire for them." Optimus said sadly.

"Here's one over here sir, his name was Night...something. He was a bat, I think." Injector called out.

"I found Motorarm!" Lazorbeak cried out "Poor bastard looks like he was crushed!"

"This one used to be Wedge Shape I think, he was a...Wait, what was he, a Maximal, or a Predacon?" Scarem asked, looking confused.

Shortly afterwards, the Maximals and Predacons built a bonfire and placed their dead on it, before moving on. They did not have far to go before they heard something. Optimus turned to look, and saw Tigatron standing near the entrance to the Decepticon Crypt.

"Tigatron!" Optimus called out, causing the others to look around for him.

"Optimus! I'm glad to see that you're still alive! We were worried that we were the only ones left!" Tigatron said, rushing towards his friends.

Optimus looked at Tigatron in surprise "We? You mean there are more survivors?"

"Indeed there are Optimus! I'm with Airazor, Ravage, Spittor, Terragator and Buzzsaw!" Tigatron replied "Now, come inside we've been expecting the Vehicons to make their move soon."

Optimus let out breath of relief. So many survivors! Things were bad certainly, but they were finding more alive than dead.

Optimus walked inside, followed closely by his fellow. Once inside, the Predacons began looking around in awe. Fractyl made straight for a statue of Thundercracker to pay his respects, while Lazorbeak walked towards Skywarp's. Insecticon, puzzled began wandering aimlessly about the room.

"I wonder which one of these I'm descended from?" He muttered to himself, before stopping and looking up at a statue of Shrapnel. Insecticon shrugged "Good enough."

"Now, we need to fortify this crypt." Optimus stared, earning him stares from the Predacons.

"What? This is a sacred place, we can't fight in here! Show some respect!" Manterror cried, moving away from the statue of Kickback that he had been kneeling in front of.

"I'm sorry Manterror, but for now, this is the safest place to be, we can't go out in the open, if we do then we all die!" Optimus said, hoping to make the Predacons see reason.

"Oh, I don't know about safe!" A voice said, echoing off the walls and startling everyone.

"Wha-? Who said that?" Buzzsaw asked.

Suddenly, a ghostly form began taking shape. It soon became a familiar sight.

"Starscream?" Ravage and Cheetor cried out in unison.

"Yes, I live...well, in a manner of speaking anyway." Starscream said.

"But, how did you get here? Last time we saw you, you were on Prehistoric Earth!" Optimus asked.

"You know Starscream?" Ravage asked.

"Yes, we've met before" Starscream said dryly "As for how I came to be here, well, I was here long before I floated to Earth, I merely tried to leave to look for a new body to control! After you got rid of me, I returned here, just in time to see those drones take over Cybertron."

"You witnessed it?" Optimus asked "What happened?"

"Not much to tell really, a bunch of strange ships began appearing and began dropping of those drones. A few weeks later, they're herding people into prisons and factories, no one ever comes out, only drones. Doesn't take a genius to figure that one out, even Skywarp could have seen that!"

"Show some respect!" Lazorbeak snapped "He was one of your allies!"

"Bah! Skywarp always was such a fool, and don't get me started on that goody goody Thundercracker, he was always trying to get Megatron to spare those wretched simians!" Starscream said.

"Hey!" Fractyl exclaimed.

"Oh goody, it looks like I'm stuck in here with their great grandchildren. What fun!" Starscream said sarcastically "Anyway, now that I have such a plentiful supply of bodies, I think I had better choose which one of you to possess!"

"What?" Optimus exclaimed in shock "You can't possess us! Who would be left to save Cybertron?"

"Not my problem" Starscream said in a bored voice "What that Megatron wannabe does is none of my concern until I figure out a way to overthrow him!"

"Megatron?" Airazor asked "Optimus, what does he mean?"

Optimus grimaced "Megatron was controlling the drones, he has been ever since we left to find you."

The others gasped in shock, momentarily forgetting Starscream, who did not take kindly to being ignored.

"Ahem! May we get back to cowering in fear?" Starscream asked.

"Wait!" Optimus pleaded, holding up his arms "Starscream, what if we were to get you a different body, would you let us do that?"

Starscream pondered the idea "Hmm, yes, I suppose so, but it would have to fly!"

Optimus sighed in relief "Good, I think I know just the form!"

"Very well, but for now, I think I'll just use this body!" Starscream exclaimed, before leaping into a very surprised Terrorsaur.

"Interesting, this form seems very...familiar, I think he might be my descendant!" Starscream said through Terrorsaur's mouth "And...I sense something, it feels like...a piece of my spark?"

"A similar spark? The only one like that would be Dinobot, who also possesses an immortal spark...do you sense him nearby?" Optimus asked.

"No, I don't mean a synthetic spark, I mean _my _spark, and it seems to coming from...him!" Starscream cried, pointing at Waspinator, who looked puzzled.

"Waspinator? Waspinator not have Jet bot's spark!" Waspinator said.

"No, not all of it, but I sense traces of it...Of course! When I possessed you, I must have left a piece of my spark within you!" Starscream said, snapping Terrorsaur's fingers.

Realisation dawned on Optimus "Waspinator, this explains so much! This must be the reason why, no matter what happens to you, you always seem to bounce back!"

"So, Waspinator is...invincible?" Waspinator asked.

"Apparently."

"Yahoo! Waspinator is invincible! Waspinator can do anything!" Waspinator screamed with joy, buzzing about the room.

"Oh no! What have I done?" Optimus muttered ,placing his head in his hands.

"Ahem, my body?" Starscream asked.

"Oh, of course, now, the plan is..." Optimus began explain to those assembled.

A few mega cycles later, a small squad of Aero drones were patrolling the area as usual. Suddenly, they saw a form flying nearby.

"Hello there fly boys! Bet you can't catch me!" Airazor taunted, before flying away.

Seeing Airazor, the drones flew after her at top speed. Suddenly, one went down, shot down by an unseen figure. Another one crashed, trailing exhaust fumes as it did so. The remaining drones were puzzled, where was the extra fire coming from? The Maximal was not firing. And then it dawned on them, it had taken their simple programming a while to figure it out, but they finally realised that they had blundered into a trap. Suddenly, Lazorbeak, Waspinator, Fractyl and Terrorsaur, still possessed by Starscream, flew out into the open.

"Time to get a replacement body!" Starscream cackled.

Lazorbeak opened fire, shooting three drones out of the air at once, now leaving only two, who attempted to flee. Starscream and Fractyl began pursuit. Soon, they came within firing range, and Fractyl shot down the closest one.

"Yes! Just a...little...closer...Now!" Starscream cried out, leaping from Terrorsaur's body and into the body of the final Aero drone "Yes! I live again!"

"Wha-? What happened?" Terrorsaur asked in a daze.

"Good, now we can return!" Fractyl said.

"You fools can go back, but I'm off to enjoy my freedom! Bye losers!" Starscream yelled out at the Pterosaur Squad.

"What a jerk." Lazorbeak muttered "You ok Terrorsaur?"

"Uh...yeah, but what happened exactly?"

Back in the Decepticon Crypt, Optimus was smiling, it might not have been much of an army, but it was something. They now had the most important weapon of all: Hope.

End of chapter 18. Ok, things are still bad, the Maximals and Predacons are still scattered and yes, some of them are dead, but there is still hope. More soldiers survived than Optimus thought. But what could happen next? Things are probably going to get a lot more unpredictable now that Starscream is running around in an Aero drone. And now we know just how Waspinator managed to get away with blowing up multiple times, he and Starscream having partially merged. Does this mean Terrorsaur is invincible now too? Next chapter, Optimus will go out looking for more survivors, will he find any? You'll have to find out next chapter! Thanks for reading!


	19. Snarl's Big Chance

Well, here we are once again, New Beast Wars, chapter 19. Last chapter, the Maximals and Predacons, under the leadership of Optimus Primal and Magmatron, went out searching for the survivors of a surprise attack lead by Scorponok and orchestrated by Megatron. However, along the way, they ran into the ghost of Starscream, who threatened to possess the group until he was given an Aero drone body to inhabit instead, before leaving for parts unknown. Now, the Maximals and Predacons have to go back to searching for survivors, before Megatron's drones find them first!

On Cybertron, there were many wondrous buildings which frequently attracted tourists from all over the planet. One such building was the Cybertronian Grand Zoo and Botanical Gardens. The building had been built a century ago by the joint actions of the Maximals and Predacons, who had begun construction on the anniversary of the end of the Great War. The building was 1,000 meters in height, 400 meters wide and its most notable features were the fifteen concave shaped disks that perched on top of each other. The design had been borrowed from the extremely similar building on Earth, Sky City 1000, the Predacons liked it so much that they had decided to use the design. Each disk held a mini ecosystem, and each one contained the plant and animal life of a different world, such as Earth, Darhos and Dhastir to name a few. In the Earth disk, something was out of place.

"Slag it!" Snarl cursed, startling a herd of gazelle "How much longer do we have to wait here?"

"For as long as necessary." Armordillo answered, sitting atop a rock in the lotus position "Remember Snarl, we are being hunted by a relentless enemy that will not stop until we are vanquished."

"How the hell can you stay so damn patient?" Snarl questioned.

"Stellar cycles of practice." Armordillo replied, still not moving or opening his optics.

In response, Snarl rolled his own optics "Yeah, whatever."

Snarl started off, before Armordillo's voice stopped him "Wait, unless you're checking the Vehicon traps, don't wander off too far."

"Relax, I'll be fine, you worry too much."

"Hmmm, just in case, I'd better go with you."

"No, you don't have to do that, really."

"Nevertheless, I would feel much better if you had someone accompanying you." Armordillo said, uncrossing his legs and standing up.

Snarl sighed "Fine, whatever, I guess we'll go check the Vehicon traps."

At the foot of the tower, Snarl and Armordillo hid behind a pile of wreckage. In the street was a pit that the two had constructed, covered by leaves from the tower.

"Arm, this is stupid, no one's gonna fall for this." Snarl complained.

"Ah, but you forget that those Vehicons aren't particularly clever." Armordillo reminded him.

"Jeez, I thought that you were supposed to be some kind of master mechanic, isn't a pit trap kind of...crude?"

"Well then, what would you suggest?" Armordillo asked.

"I dunno, maybe some kind of motion sensor laser field, or some carefully placed proximity mines?"

"We have neither the equipment nor the tools available for such things, so we made do with what we had readily available." Armordillo reminded him.

"Look, just give me twenty cycles and I swear I can build something out of whatever's nearby."

"Patience young Maximal, you are too eager to rush into things, you yearn for excitement and it clouds your judgement."

"Jeez, you sound like a Jedi." Snarl muttered "Look, could you at least break out your flail?"

"No" Armordillo replied "We shall sit here and wait for our quarry to arrive."

Snarl sighed "Screw it. Hey, I'm gonna go for a walk, ok?"

"Be back within a mega cycle." Armordillo said, not breaking his gaze away from the pit.

"Sure, whatever." Snarl said with a slight wave of his hand as he trudged off. As soon as he was sure he was out of Armordillo's earshot, Snarl began talking to himself "Jeez that guy's annoying, never does anything fun, won't even let me shoot down one itty bitty little Cycle drone!"

Suddenly, Snarl though he heard gunshots. He gasped and ducked behind a building, before slowly looking around the corner. From his position, Snarl could see Insecticon, Scarem and Scourge fighting off attacks from both Tank Drones and Aero drones. However, it seemed that it was a free for all brawl, as when the Vehicons weren't taking shots at the Predacons, they were trying to take down each other.

"I guess the rumours of Vehicon rebellions were true." Snarl muttered to himself.

_This is perfect! _Snarl thought _I can finally get a slice of some action!_

And with that, Snarl let out a magnificent battle howl and leapt into the fray. Both the Predacons and the Vehicons were surprised to see the new combatant, yet they continued fighting anyway. Insecticon, in insect mode, took a huge bite out of an Aero drone, while Scarem impaled a Tank drone on his claws. Scourge meanwhile, was whacking a Tank drone on the head with his staff in a futile attempt to bring it down. Snarl on the other hand, was furiously trying to savage an Aero drone. Soon, the drones lay dead, and the three Predacons turned to meet their newest member.

"What's your name kid?" Scarem asked.

"Name's Snarl, and you three are...?" Snarl asked, he had very limited contact with the three Predacons before and was unsure o their names.

" We're-" Scarem began, before being cut off by Insecticon.

" We're Insecticons! Robots in Disguise!"

"...What?" Scourge asked.

"That's our team name, the New Insecticons!"

"The hell it is!" Scarem said, glaring at Insecticon.

"Why not?" Insecticon asked.

"Because it's stupid, that's why!" Scourge snapped.

"And besides, do you really think that we deserve to bear the mantle of Insecticons? We can't hold a candle to them!" Scarem added.

"Speak for yourselves." Insecticon sniffed.

"Uh, guys?" Snarl interrupted.

"What?" All three Predacons asked at once, turning to look at the one who had dared to interrupt their petty squabble.

"Are you the only ones out here, or are there more survivors?"

"Oh, of course, silly me!" Scarem said, slapping his head.

"Yes, silly you." Insecticon said with a frown.

In response, Scarem glared at him, before turning back to Snarl "No, we are not the only ones out here, we're part of a large group. Optimus Primal is with us, as is our glorious leader Magmatron!"

Snarl rolled his optics (he was particularly fond of the action, and some might even have gone so far as to say that it was his favourite) "We're being led by Magmatron? Somehow I doubt that."

"It's true! Ever since Optimus returned from that secret mission of his, he hasn't been the same!" Scarem insisted.

"Probably because he's such a weakling." Scourge muttered under his breath.

"But...but what about Razorbeast?" Snarl asked, looking confused.

In response, Insecticon shook his head "None of the patrols have been able to find him" Insecticon took note of how Snarl's head drooped and continued "But cheer up kid! They still haven't found lots of people! Hell, it's taken us two solar cycles just to find you!"

Suddenly, Insecticon's communicator sprang to life.

"All available forces report to Sector Gamma! We have encountered survivors but are engaged in combat with Vehicon forces!" Ravage's voice blared over the communicator.

Insecticon sighed "Oh goody, more combat!"

Snarl balked at him "Are you kidding! The combat's the best part! It's why I signed up with the Maximal Security Force!"

Scarem took a long, hard stare at Snarl "Sooner or later kid, you're gonna learn that war not always about combat."

With that, the four of them sprung into action, hoping to get to the survivors before the Vehicons could finish them off.

In Sector Gamma, Ravage and Rotorbolt were fighting a number of Aero drones alongside the survivors they had encountered: Claw Jaw, K-9 and Stinkbomb. Currently, Claw Jaw was in his octopus beast mode and had latched onto an Aero drone and was currently wrestling with it. K-9 was also in his beast mode, and was trying to rip a drone's arm off. Ravage and Rotorbolt meanwhile, were trying to shoot down the drones, Ravage from the ground while Rotorbolt was engaging in dogfights from the air.

"You wanna piece of me, ya Aero dogs?" Rotorbolt yelled out as he gunned down four drones.

Back on the ground, Stinkbomb, still in robot mode, was lobbing grenades at his opponents, a number of Cycle drones. An Aero drone began sneaking up behind him with its claws raised, and Snarl began to shout a warning put, only to be silenced when Stinkbomb's ponytail, made entirely out of razor blades, lashed out and cleanly sliced the drone in two. By this point, Snarl was beginning to question whether or not he and the others were really needed, when K-9 was knocked down by a Cycle drone. K-9 let out a yelp, and the drone made to finish him off, but a shot from Insecticon blew a hole in the drone's chest. The others turned to see the new arrivals.

"Well it's about time you got your sorry asses here!" Ravage snapped.

"Sorry, but we got delayed, we found this kid you see-" Scarem began.

"Save it! Five lives over one is no contest!" Ravage growled, before swiping his claws across the face of an Aero drone, cutting it to ribbons.

Scourge grumbled "Come on, we better get over there before Mr. Sourpuss over there yells at us again."

And with that, the four leapt into the fray. Scarem and Scourge flew up into the air. While Scarem began impaling the Aero drones who were losing their battles in the sky, Scourge began to shoot wildly left and right, decimating the drone forces, but at the cost of nearly hitting Rotorbolt.

"Hey! Watch it will ya?" Rotorbolt snapped, firing a missile which missed Scourge by a hair.

"You did that on purpose!" Scourge accused.

"The hell I did! There was an Aero drone behind you!" Rotorbolt said with a triumphant smirk.

On the ground, Insecticon was fighting alongside Snarl.

"Enjoying yourself kid?" Insecticon asked as he shot a large hole through a Cycle drone's chest.

"Oh hell yeah!" Snarl exclaimed as he threw one of his morning stars into the face of a nearby drone, smashing it "This is the most fun I've ever had since college!"

"Yeah, well, just wait until you see someone you know being carried away in a body bag kid, then you might not enjoy yourself so much." Insecticon cautioned.

Snarl faltered. An image had just come into his head. He remembered seeing his fellow Maximals carry the body of Optimus Minor into the assembly hall, he remembered Optimus Primal's eulogy, and he remembered witnessing the cremation. Snarl had not known Optimus Minor too well, but he had only been a few orbital cycles older than him, and they had talked on infrequent occasions. Given time, they might even have come to see each other as friends. Snarl shivered, it was not something he wished to think about.

Insecticon noticed it "Did I get through to you then?" He asked "I hope so, war only breeds two kinds of people, those who glorify it, and those who come home tired and weakened from their experiences."

"And which one are you?" Snarl asked.

Insecticon sighed "I used to love battle, the shots flying, the explosions, watching the light leave your fallen foe's optics. But one day that changed...one day, my best friend didn't come back, and so I came to despise war, but I couldn't just up and leave...I had to stay, but every battle that I ever fought in I grew more and more saddened by the senseless loss of life."

Snarl averted his gaze, he hadn't been sure, but he had thought he had seen Insecticon leaking cleaning fluids from his optics. Snarl thought it would be best to give the older Predacon his dignity.

A few cycles later, the battle was over, Vehicons lay dead and the survivors, though slightly singed from all the laser fire, were fine.

"Well that was quite the battle." Stinkbomb mused "It's almost a shame that Noctorro wasn't here to fight alongside us, he would have enjoyed it."

"Well, now that that's over, we'll have to take you back to base for a briefing on the situation" Ravage told the three "And then, we can go out and look for survivors."

Something in Snarl's mind finally clicked "Survivors? Oh my Primus! Arms!"

Some distance away, a lone Tank drone lumbered across the roads. Suddenly, the ground gave way beneath him, and he fell into a deep pit.

"Success!" Armordillo cried out as he leapt from his hiding spot.

End of chapter 19. Well, they found more survivors! I've been waiting weeks for this ending, I thought it would be really funny, so I hope you thought it was too. There's some more character development here, but I just want you to know that I'm not placing my own opinions in this chapter, I just thought that even Predacons would get sick of all the fighting. Well, thanks for reading, don't forget to leave a review!


	20. A Nightmare on Cybertron

Here we go again! New Beast Wars, chapter 20! As usual, I do not own Beast Wars, Beast Machines, IDW comics or any characters that are associated with the Transformers...pity. Anyway, following the events of Revelations and Rebellion: Part III, the Maximals and Predacons were scattered and now Optimus Primal and his remaining soldiers have to rescue them before the Vehicons can get to them. Whelp, that pretty much sums it up. Enjoy the story!

Dinobot cursed to himself as he trudged down the streets of Cybertron. Ever since he had been separated from the others, he had made his way to the streets and begun wandering around, hoping to find any other survivors.

"Slag it." Dinobot muttered to himself

_Language aberration_

Well, not completely to himself.

"Are you still in there? I would have hoped that you would have vacated from y spark compartment by now!" Dinobot growled, glancing down at his chest.

_We both know that I can't do that, so you may as well not bring it up_

Dinobot glared "You have no idea how sick of you I am!"

_Oh? Well then perhaps a healthy dose of pain would fix that state of mind_

For the first time that day, Dinobot grinned "Oh, I don't think you could do that!"

_Oh? And why is that? _

"Because Rampage, if you were, then you would leave me vulnerable to ambush, and if you were to do that then the Vehicons that have been following us for the last five microquads would have the perfect opportunity to destroy both of us!"

_What? There are no Vehicons! You're lying!_

"Think again, you crab faced freak! I'll let you use my internal scanners for the moment so you can see for yourself!"

There was a brief pause, as presumably, Rampage was taking Dinobot's offer.

_...Son of a bitch!_

Dinobot smirked "See? Now, if you were to zap me at this time, then we'd both be deader than Starscream in less than a cycle! So unless you want that to happen, you're going to sit there and shut up!"

It may have been his imagination, but Dinobot thought that he could hear Rampage growling.

_As soon as we deal with those Vehicons, I will sincerely make you regret your remarks aberration_

Dinobot smirked. Good to know that he was getting at Rampage for once instead of the other way around.

Inside the Decepticon crypt, the survivors that had been found by Optimus Primal and his forces were making plans to search for any others that may have survived the attack on their base.

"...Which is why the sewers under Cybertron are the most likely prospect." Fractyl concluded.

"Hmmm, I don't know Fractyl, are you sure about this?" Magmatron asked, currently filling in for Optimus Primal, who had been seen less and less of late.

"Of course I'm sure sir! It makes perfect sense when you think about it! Our forces see a bunch of Vehicon drones invading the base en masse, so what do they do? Well, they have two options, stand and fight, or flee. Now, assuming that they choose to flee, then there are only so many escape options for them. They can either try to flee past the Vehicons, which would be suicide, or they can head deeper into the sewers. Assuming they know where they're going, then they would probably reach the streets of Cybertron in a matter of cycles. Some however, might not know the layout and get lost in the sewers."

Magmatron stroked his chin "Do we know anyone who might not have known the layout of the sewers?"

"Um...Possibly Razorclaw, he never did have much of a head for maps...uh...Packrat, we all know how much of a coward he is...Rhinox, if he was alone then his chances of getting lost are significantly high, less so if he were with others and maybe Claw Hammer." Fractyl replied as he thought it over.

"Why Claw Hammer?" Magmatron asked.

"Well he was never completely comfortable with being underground and got a little claustrophobic. When the Vehicons attacked he might have panicked at the idea of fighting underground and gotten lost."

"Hmmm, yes, I suppose so. All right, I'll assemble a team, it will consist of you, Terrorsaur, Terragator, Spittor, Ravage, K-9 and Optimus Primal." Magmatron said after deciding on who to bring.

"Ah, sir? Are you sure that bringing Optimus is a good idea? He's been acting odd ever since he got back from that failed mission." Fractyl asked hesitantly.

"I'm quite sure Fractyl, perhaps if he were out looking for survivors it might take his mind off his failures, and besides, he might find his original crew members."

"If you say so sir. And who would you have lead in your absence?"

Magmatron paused to consider "Armordillo I think, he shows qualities of a competent leader, and his formidable patience is quite a impressive."

"Very good sir. Any further orders?" Fractyl asked.

"No, you are dismissed." Magmatron replied with a slight wave of his hand.

Deep beneath Cybertron, Blackarachnia, Silverbolt, Rhinox, Rattrap and Bantor found themselves in something that was more of a cavern than a sewer.

"Where are we?" Bantor asked the other nervously.

"We're...we're...Uh, Rhinox? Where are we?" Blackarachnia asked.

"I...I don't know, I've never heard of this place before." Rhinox replied, looking around.

Suddenly, they heard something echoing of the cave walls.

"What was that?" Rattrap asked in a panicky voice.

"Probably just some form of cave life form." Rhinox attempted to reassure the others, but secretly, even he was unnerved by the sound.

"Cave life forms? On Cybertron?" Rattrap asked.

"It's possible Rattrap, sometimes animals smuggled from other planets escape and make their ways to the sewers, where they adapt to life on Cybertron." Rhinox said.

"Well what the hell sounds like that?"

"I don't know, possibly some kind of creature that relies on echolocation."

"Should I scout ahead Rhinox? My beast mode has acute night vision." Silverbolt offered.

Rhinox shook his head "Under the circumstances I don't think that that would be wise Silverbolt. We'd all be much safer if we stuck together, understood?"

The others voiced their agreement.

On the surface, Thrust was speaking to a platoon of Cycle drones.

"We've received reports that a number of Maximals may have been spotted in the sewers of Cybertron, apparently having wandered in during the siege of their base. It is our job to go in and exterminate them, am I clear?" Thrust asked.

The Cycle drones raised their fists in a silent cheer, before they began their descent into the sewers.

Elsewhere, Magmatron and his team were making their way deep into the sewers.

"Jeez, it smells awful down here!" K-9 exclaimed, pinching his olfactory receptors.

"Well what the hell did you expect a sewer to smell like? Flowers and sweeties?" Terragator snapped at the younger Maximal.

Spittor chuckled "Good one Terragator."

"All of you, shut up!" Magmatron admonished "We don't know who or what's down here so we can't afford to reveal our positions! Isn't that right Optimus?"

"Huh? Oh...of course, we must remain in the shadows." Optimus asked, having been pulled out of his own little world.

Magmatron sighed _Primus help me!_ He thought, looking back at the emotionally distant Optimus.

Deep in the bowels of Cybertron, Thrust and his troops were making their way into the vast cavern that Rhinox and his group of survivors had passed through previously. Thrust stooped to see a large footprint, just like that of a rhinoceros.

"We're getting close men! Soon, we shall bask in the glory of out fallen foes!" Thrust said, turning to look at his troops. "Huh?" Thrust exclaimed in surprise.

He had been sure that there had been twenty soldiers with him, but now it seemed that two were missing.

"Units 12 and 18?" Thrust called out before turning to Unit 11 "You! Where are units 12 and 18?"

The drone merely shrugged.

Thrust sighed "Frigging idiots must have gotten lost. All right, everyone activate their headlights and stay close to each other!" Thrust commanded, before rolling forward, deeper into the cave.

What he did not notice was Unit 13 being pulled into the shadows.

Deeper in the cave, Rhinox and the others were wandering blindly into the darkness.

"Blast! I can't see a thing in here!" Rhinox muttered.

"Wait a second, I may have a spare flare or two with me." Blackarachnia said, a brief rustling sound was heard, before a bright light lit up the cave "Aha!" Blackarachnia exclaimed in triumph, not noticing the looks on her fellow Maximals faces.

"R-Rhinox?" Silverbolt asked in a quiet voice.

"Yes Silverbolt?"

"Should we run?"

"Yes...that would be a good idea." Rhinox replied.

"What?" Blackarachnia asked, before turning to see what the others were staring at "Oh..." Was all Blackarachnia could say.

Standing in front of them was a towering creature which would have made even an Autobot or Decepticon seem small in comparison. The beast had a crown of horns on its head, glowing red eyes, razor sharp claws and teeth, furry arms and metallic upper bodies and hands. From its mouth dripped copious amounts of drool.

The Maximals could only stare in shock for a few moments before they turned and fled. From the thumping noises they could hear behind them, the creature was giving chase.

"Rhinox, what the hell is that thing?" Rattrap called out.

"We'll discuss what they are later...assuming there is a later!" Rhinox called back as he ran at full speed in the opposite direction.

Not far away, Thrust had stopped to do a head count. Where there had once been eighteen drones, now only twelve stood.

"Alright, now this is getting ridiculous! Unit 11! Did you see what the hell happened to the others?" Thrust asked.

In response, Unit 11 pointed behind Thrust.

Thrust turned to see a group of Maximals running towards him "Maximals! They must have set an ambush! Prepare for ba-eh?" Thrust questioned as the Maximals run straight past him and his forces.

"Run! Run away!" Thrust heard Bantor cry as he ran past.

"Wha-?" Thrust turned to see a gigantic creature thundering towards him and his troops "Run the other way!" Thrust screamed as he turned to flee.

The other Cycle drones all quickly turned, but Unit 6 was not quite fast enough to avoid the claws of whatever it was that was chasing them. Thrust turned in time to see sparks fly from Unit 6, his body jerking wildly as the creature held him. Thrust let out a yelp of panic, before changing into high gear and speeding ahead of the others.

At the mouth of the cavern, Magmatron's search party were holding their ground.

"Magmatron?" Ravage asked "Should we go in?"

"Er...I suppose so...Terrorsaur, you and Fractyl can lead!" Magmatron said.

"Rawk! Why us? Why not you? You are the leader after all!" Terrorsaur reminded Magmatron.

"Yes, but you're the one whose always gunning for leader's position! You go!"

The arguing might have continued if not for the sudden arrival of Rhinox and the others.

"Rhinox!" Optimus Primal cried out, and Magmatron noticed the old light in his eyes finally returning.

"RUN FOR YOUR LIVES!" Rattrap screamed as he flew straight past Magmatron and the others, who stood where they were, puzzled.

"Optimus, as glad as I am to see you, we need to-" Rhinox began, before a fleeing Thrust cut him off.

"FLEE!"

Thrust sped past, closely followed by his remaining Cycle drones.

"Wha-?" Terrorsaur began, before he felt the ground rumble beneath his feet.

Then he finally saw what the others were fleeing from. Terrorsaur let out a shrill squeal, before he went straight to vehicle mode and sped off back the way he came.

"Run!" Magmatron commanded when he saw the beast.

The others needed no further incentive and sped off in the opposite direction.

Rhinox and his group ducked into another corridor to catch their non-existent breath.

"Ok, I think we lost them." Rhinox panted.

Thrust began to drive by them, noticed them, stopped and drove up to them, his drones closely behind him.

"You! Maximal scientist! What were those creatures?"

Rhinox sighed "Creatures long thought to be a myth. The creatures that attacked us were...Demons. Failed creations of Primus, locked deep beneath Cybertron."

"Demons? But Rhinox, surely those creatures are only the things of legend?" Silverbolt asked.

"No, they perfectly match the descriptions of the Demons as seen by our ancestors." Rhinox replied, shaking his head.

"But what do those creatures...these Demons, want?" Blackarachnia asked.

"Legend has it that they drain the power of their victims until the only thing left is a lifeless husk. They'll do the same to us if we stay here any longer." Rhinox said.

"But what about Optimus and the others?" Silverbolt asked.

"We'll just have to hope that they can escape the Demons."

Suddenly, Magmatron and his search party ran by. Only Optimus stopped when he saw Rhinox and the others.

"Rhinox! I'm so glad to see you alive, but we have to escape, one of those creatures followed us!" Optimus exclaimed.

"What?" Thrust asked in horror, turning to look down the tunnel.

Indeed, the beast had followed them, and was now barrelling straight towards them.

"Drones! Open fire!" Thrust cried out, before turning and running away.

All of the Cycle drones stayed behind and opened fire on the Demon. When it came into range, they opened fire. However, their shots just seemed to be absorbed by the Demon's metal chest.

"It's no use! They absorb energy!" Rhinox warned, before turning and running away, closely followed by the others.

Unit 11 was the first to turn tail and flee, but the others were slower to react. As soon as the Demon grabbed Units 2, 3 and 9 however, the drones all turned and fled, hoping to escape the gruesome fates of their comrades.

"Rhinox! Do you have a plan for these things?" Optimus called out.

"Just the one." Rhinox replied.

"And that would be...?" Rattrap asked.

"RUN!"

Magmatron cursed "This is ridiculous! If we keep running, then we'll lead this thing to the surface! We have to stop it here and now!"

"But how?" Ravage asked "You saw how it just absorbed those lasers!"

"But can it survive a roof going down on its head?" Magmatron replied.

"Of course! It's so simple!" Rhinox exclaimed, slapping his forehead "In my panic, I forgot that the Demons aren't indestructible, just incredibly resistant to most forms of damage!"

"But we're going to need a lot of firepower to bring the roof down!" Terrorsaur pointed out.

"Thrust!" Optimus called out "If we combine our firepower, then we may be able to trap this thing!"

Thrust, a few meters ahead of the others cursed "Fine! Me and my drones shall help you! But next time we meet, it shall be on opposite ends of the battlefield! Understood?"

"Yes, just hurry up and give the order!" Magmatron yelled at the diminutive drone general.

"Drones! Commence fire on the tunnel roof!" Thrust commanded, stopping and turning around.

Instantly, the drones all stopped and began concentrating fire on the roof of the tunnel. They were soon joined by the Maximals and the Predacons.

"It's working!" Fractyl exclaimed, looking up as the roof began to groan under the strain.

"Keep firing! That thing's still coming!" Bantor cried out.

And it was. The Demon was charging straight towards them.

Suddenly, the roof finally gave out under the combined power of the Maximals, Predacons and Vehicons, collapsing on top of the Demon.

"Did...did we do it?" Terragator asked.

The rubble did not stir.

"Yeah...I think we did..." Spittor said hesitantly.

"Thank you Thru-" Optimus began, but Thrust and his remaining drones had already left.

On the surface, Dinobot stood among the corpses of a number of Tank drones.

"Well, that takes care of them!" Dinobot said with a satisfied smile on his face.

_You forgot one little detail_

Dinobot's smile turned into a frown.

"Oh no." He muttered.

End of chapter 20. Well, more survivors have been found, and it looks like Dinobot's in for some trouble from Rampage. Hopefully that's the end of the Demons, but you never know. I hope you enjoyed it, and please remember to leave a review. Thanks for reading!


	21. The Return of Blastcharge Finally!

Hey, how ya doing? Welcome to New Beast Wars, chapter 21. As usual, I shall start with the disclaimer: I do not own Beast Wars, Beast Machines, IDW Comics or any characters that are associated with The Transformers. Last time, Optimus Primal, Rhinox and a number of hapless Vehicons stumbled down into the caverns beneath Cybertron. Instead of running into the Oracle however, they ran headfirst into a hungry creature, which was intent on making the Maximals, Predacons and Vehicons into snacks! How did that end? Read the last chapter and find out! Anyway, this chapter will focus heavily on Rhinox and everyone's second favourite flying insect, Buzzsaw! I hope you enjoy it, and please remember to write a review when you're done! Thanks for reading!

* * *

In the fortified Decepticon Crypt, Rhinox, Buzzsaw, Bantor and Fractyl were working on a new experiment, one which would hopefully decimate the Vehicon forces.

"Rhinox, how is the explosive device coming along?" Optimus Primal asked, as he and Cheetor walked up to the four.

Rhinox sighed "Optimus, it's not an explosive, it's a modified quantum pulse capsule."

"Well what does it do?"Cheetor asked.

"Well, with any luck, we can get it tune into the Vehicons energy signature and shut them all down in one magnificent blast." Rhinox replied.

"Hey, I think you got a wire loose, let me check that out." Cheetor said, strolling up to the capsule and touching the wire.

"Cheetor no!" Rhinox yelled, a fraction of a second too late.

The device began sparking and bucking around.

"Hit the dirt!" Fractyl screamed as he threw himself onto the ground.

However, while Optimus, Rhinox and Cheetor did just that, Bantor and Buzzsaw stood where they were, too panicked to move.

"Bantor! Get down!" Rhinox called out to the younger Maximal, who only stayed where he was "Slag!" Rhinox cursed as he got up and ran towards Bantor.

"Rhinox no! There's no time!" Optimus cried.

Optimus was right, the device had suddenly begun to jump around and pieces of it were falling off. Rhinox, realising that there was no time to take cover, used his own body to shield Bantor from the explosion.

"Buzzsaw! Duck!" Cheetor called out.

By this point, however it was too late, as the device had finally exploded, and the ensuing explosion hit both Rhinox and Buzzsaw, sending them flying.

"Rhinox!" Optimus yelled, holding out his arm.

He would have gotten up to help, but Cheetor launched himself at Optimus.

"Wait till the explosion stops!"

As if on cue, the moment Cheetor finished his sentence, the explosion abruptly halted. Optimus looked around for any sign of Rhinox, Bantor or Buzzsaw. Optimus heard a faint groaning sound, and looked towards a pile of wreckage.

"Rhinox!" Optimus cried out.

However, it was Buzzsaw's hand which burst out of the wreckage, only now, something was different about it...

"I live!" Buzzsaw exclaimed as he burst through the rubble, only to meet slack jawed expressions "What? What's the matter?"

Buzzsaw had certainly changed, where once his skin had been yellow, it was now black, except for his beast mode legs, which were crimson, and as were his antennae. His beast mode eyes were now bright gold and somehow shinier than when they were before. His head, however, was almost exactly the same, save for a crimson hexagon between his eyes and two red palps that emerged from either side of his mouth.

"Buzzsaw, you're...a Transmetal!" Cheetor exclaimed in shock.

"Huh? I'm a...?" Buzzsaw turned and saw his reflection in a mirror which had been hung there by Injector, who was something of a narcissus "By Primus...I'm a Transmetal! Wahoo! I can do anything now!"

Cheetor turned to Optimus "Hey Optimus, you think that if Buzzsaw turned into a Transmetal...?"

Optimus turned to look at Cheetor, and realisation dawned on him. Optimus then threw himself on the pile of debris to look for Rhinox.

"I've found him! I've found him!" Optimus exclaimed, and the others all went to help Optimus.

They found Bantor first, who stood up groggily. Unlike Buzzsaw however, he was not a Transmetal.

"Uh? What happened?" Bantor asked.

While Fractyl briefly explained what had happened, Optimus and Cheetor dug through the pile to get Rhinox out.

"Here big bot!" Cheetor called out, unearthing a hand.

Optimus run over to Cheetor's pile and began helping to dig him out. Soon, they had completely recovered Rhinox, who also stood in a new, Transmetal form.

His head was fairly similar to his old head, except now his face was tan instead of green, and his helmet was black with a silver stripe on it. Rhinox's chest was also tan, but now had a large green light on it. Rhinox's arms were a dark brown, and his legs were silver, except for his feet, which were bronze. Not only had his appearance changed, but so had his arsenal, as now Rhinox was clutching a long sword, which Optimus realised, must have been his beast mode horn.

"Whoa! Look at you Rhinox!" Cheetor exclaimed.

"What?" Rhinox asked in a daze.

In response, Cheetor turned Rhinox around and led him to the mirror.

Rhinox gasped when he saw his knew form "I'm...a Transmetal?" Rhinox asked in surprise.

"Hey, why don't you two test out your new forms?" Cheetor asked in an excited voice.

"Oh yeah! Beast Mode!" Buzzsaw cried out, leaping into the air as he transformed.

When he returned to the ground, he was now a shiny black and red yellow jacket.

"Wow! This is awesome!" Buzzsaw exclaimed as he took to the air on his new wings.

As he hovered, a shot fired from his stinger, barely missing the grand statue of Megatron.

"Whoa! I didn't know that I could do that!"

"Hey! Try out your vehicle mode now!" Cheetor called out.

"Oh, right, I almost forgot!" And with that, Buzzsaw transformed from a Transmetal wasp into a jet, which began rocketing around the crypt.

"Whoa!" Buzzsaw cried out as he flew around the crypt "Buzzsaw, Terrorize!" Buzzsaw cried out, before returning to his new robot mode "I think I need to get a hang of flying, but otherwise...Awesome!"

"Heh, you'll get the hang of it!" Cheetor assured "Hey Rhinox, let's see what you can do!"

"Hmm, very well. Beast Mode!" Rhinox yelled.

In his new beast mode, Rhinox's body was almost entirely silver, except for his eyes, which were red, his horn, which was brown, and his back, which was a metallic teal.

"Check you out!" Cheetor said, staring at Rhinox in amazement.

"Impressive, I feel ten times stronger!" Rhinox said as he experimentally moved his feet.

"And what about your vehicle mode?" Optimus asked, finally getting over the shock of seeing his old friend in a new body.

After a few moments, Rhinox shifted to vehicle mode. Now his back legs converted to treads, and his front legs took on the appearance of skis "Interesting, I seem to be some kind of all terrain vehicle."

Wishing to test his new form out, Rhinox slowly drove forward. When he got the hang of that, he increased his speed, only to crash into the statue of Skywarp. Optimus and Cheetor rushed to help their friend while Fractyl and Bantor stood in amazement.

"It's not fair!" Fractyl exclaimed "I want to be a Transmetal too!"

"Well then, I guess you shouldn't have jumped onto the ground like a coward!" Bantor teased.

In response, Fractyl growled at him.

Optimus and Cheetor began to help Rhinox up.

"Rhinox, Maximise!" Rhinox cried out, returning to robot mode.

"Rhinox, are you alright?" Optimus asked in a concerned tone of voice.

Rhinox smiled "You know, I feel just fine! I think I like this new form!"

"Great! Why don't me and Rattrap take you guys out later so that you can test your new forms?" Cheetor asked.

"Sounds good to me Cheetor, what about you Buzzsaw?"

Buzzsaw turned "No, not Buzzsaw, not anymore. From now on, it's Vespid!"

Cheetor raised a brow "Umm, ok...but do you want to come with us?"

Vespid shrugged "Sure, why not? It'll give me the perfect opportunity to test this new form out!"

"Great! I'll just go and get Rattrap then!" Cheetor said, dashing off.

* * *

Elsewhere, Dinobot was sprawled onto the ground in excruciating pain while Rampage, projecting a ghost like image from Dinobot's chest stood over him.

"Well, I hope that taught you to respect your betters aberration!" Rampage sneered at Dinobot.

"Animal! Abomination!" Dinobot spat as he lay on the ground, recovering from the pain.

In response, Rampage sent more pain channelling through Dinobot's body.

"Uh-uh! Mind your temper aberration!" Rampage tutted as Dinobot writhed in agony.

In his agonised state, Dinobot did not see the Tank Drone coming up behind Rampage, and neither did Rampage, he was too focused on torturing Dinobot. He did however notice, when the Tank Drone fired a shell at him...which passed harmlessly through Rampage's non corporeal form.

"Hmm?" Rampage asked, turning to see what had fired upon him "You have just made a terrible mistake my delicious little morsel!"

With that, Rampage leapt at the Tank drone. Although the shot had passed through him, Rampage partially solidified his form in order to pick up the Tank drone, which he promptly ripped in half and began to devour.

Needless to say, Dinobot was repulsed by Rampage's actions "How can you live with yourself?"

Suddenly, Rampage stopped his feast and dropped the Tank drone to the ground "And what exactly makes you think I like living like this?" Rampage asked, not turning to face Dinobot.

"Eh?"

"You think I chose this? They brought me into this world! They made me this way! And when I did not live up to their expectations, They tried to terminate me! So I fled, but when I arrived at Omicron colony, I was seized with an incredible hunger. So I devoured everyone...and I found I enjoyed it. I enjoyed their terrified expressions! Their screams, their pleas for mercy! It became like an addiction which I was helpless to control! I never asked for any of this, I am what They made me!"

"They?" Dinobot questioned.

"The Maximals! They're the ones who created me! I despise them for that! I hate them!" Rampage screamed, stamping on the Tank drone.

"You despise them for creating you?"

"If I had the choice, then I would not exist at all." Rampage replied softly.

Dinobot, staring at Rampage in amazement, did not notice the Jeep drones creeping up on them.

* * *

Not far away, Cheetor and Rattrap were leading Rhinox and Vespid through the empty streets of Cybertron. Vespid was cruising along in jet mode, which he had more or less mastered, while Rhinox thundered along in beast mode.

"All right guys, my scanners are detecting movement!" Rattrap announced "We should get ready for battle!"

The group rounded a corner, only to face a platoon of Jeep drones...fighting Dinobot!

"Chopper Face!" Rattrap exclaimed "Rattrap, Maximise!"

"Cheetor, Maximise!"

"Rhinox, Maximise!"

"Vespid, Terrorize!"

The group all rushed forward to help their friend. Rhinox charged forward, knocking a Jeep drone to the ground, and impaling another on his sword. While it was still impaled, Rhinox turned and opened fire with his chain gun using his free hand. Cheetor meanwhile, was mauling another group of drones with his claws, savagely slicing them apart. Vespid had taken to the air and was firing wildly into the hordes of Vehicons. Although most of his shots would not have been fatal ordinarily, his Transmetalization had bestowed on him a type of poison which seemed to be incredibly effective on the drones, which were dropping like flies. Rattrap had now waded through the Vehicon drones and was fighting alongside Dinobot.

"Hey Chopper Face, where ya been? You really ticked us off when you ditched us!" Rattrap admonished.

"Ditched? I did not ditch you...I simply...misplaced you." Dinobot replied as he sliced the face off of a Jeep drone.

"Uh huh...you got lost didn't you?" Rattrap asked.

"Silence vermin! Or else I shall have to silence you myself!"

"Oooh, big bad lizard thinks that he can take me! I'm shakin'!" Rattrap taunted.

Rattrap ducked in surprise when Dinobot turned and sliced the air where Rattrap had been only moments before...and decapitated a Jeep drone which had been creeping up on Rattrap.

"Hey! Watch it! You almost got me instead of that crummy Vehicon!"

"And who said that I was aiming for the Vehicon?" Dinobot asked, a smirk on his face.

Rattrap gulped.

Vespid meanwhile, had decided to team up with Rhinox in order to dispatch the drones. Suddenly, an especially large Jeep drone rolled up to them.

"Blastcharge, Overdrive!" The Jeep drone called out, and transformed into robot mode.

"Another drone general!" Rhinox exclaimed.

"Yes! They call me Blastcharge, and I am the smartest and strongest Vehicon in all of Cyberton!"

Vespid rolled his eyes "I think you mean _Cybertron _genius!"

"That's what I said, Cyberton!"

"Whatever, let's just get this over with!" Vespid said, as he launched himself at Blastcharge.

In response, Blastcharge swatted Vespid away with one of his mighty hands.

"It's gonna take more that some big bug to take me down!"

At this point, Rhinox had returned to beast mode, and was preparing to charge Blastcharge.

"Oooh, looks like the bull wants a piece of old Blastcharge! Well come and get me!" Blastcharge taunted, holding his hand out in front of him and flexing his fingers.

"I'm a rhinoceros!" Rhinox corrected as he charged the Vehicons dumbest general.

"Oof!" Blastcharge let out as Rhinox slammed into his stomach.

Not willing to give up, Blastcharge firmly dug his feet into the ground and pushed. Now the two were at a standstill, neither one making any headway. That was until Rhinox shifted into Vehicle mode.

"Wha-?" Blastcharge asked when he realised that he was being pushed back "Impressive bull, but it's going to take a lot more than that to move me!"

"How about this?" Vespid yelled as he flew towards Blastcharge at full speed.

The combined efforts of Vespid and Rhinox sent Blastcharge flying. As Blastcharge attempted to get up, he found himself surrounded.

"Heh, I see that you got me!" Blastcharge said, looking around.

"That's right, and we're gonna take you to the deepest, darkest pit and throw you in for what you did to Cybertron!" Rattrap said, pointing his pistol at the general.

"Heh, you can try, but I'm the one who led the initial attacks on Cybertron. While you were wallowing in your own filth on Earth, we were here, on Cybertron, destroying everything! I crushed them all you know, the men...the women...the children...the defectives..."

Deep within Dinobot, something snapped, except it wasn't quite Dinobot...

_Arrrrrggggghhhh! _

A bright light shot out of Dinobot's spark compartment and entered Blastcharge.

"What's...happening?" Blastcharge screamed in horror and pain as he began writhing on the ground in agony.

"Dinobot, what did you do?" Rattrap asked, his glance shifting between Dinobot and Blastcharge.

Blastcharge's screams reached a peak, and Blastcharge suddenly exploded.

The others all turned to stare at Dinobot, all of them wore identical looks of horror on their faces.

"Dinobot...I think you've got some explaining to do..." Rattrap said.

* * *

On the roofs of Cybertron, Starscream was observing the empty city. Ever since he had taken over the Aero drone's body, he had painted himself red to make himself look different from all those other, identical drones.

"Ahhhh, it feels so good to be corporeal again!" Starscream said to himself.

"Enjoying the new body?"

Starscream whirled around to see Jetstorm floating behind him.

"What do you want Vehicon?" Starscream snarled.

"Only a little of your time..." Jetstorm replied, as dozens of drones floated down behind him.

* * *

End of Chapter 21. Well, not only did they find Dinobot, but they also destroyed their first drone general too! And Rhinox and Buzzsaw...er, I mean Vespid, are now Transmetals! It looks like things are finally looking up for the Maximals and the Predacons. But what's going to happen to Dinobot now that people have seen Rampage in action? And what's going to happen to Starscream? You'll have to find out in the next instalment of New Beast Wars! Thanks for reading, I hope you enjoyed it!


	22. Showdown in The Skies

Hello once again, and welcome to New Beast Wars, chapter 22. Ahhhh, after a brief absence spent working on _They Just Don't Care Anymore, _it feels good to get back to writing on my first love, this fanfic...well, technically second love, but...ahem, never mind. Anyway, I do not own Beast Wars, Beast Machines, IDW comics or any characters that are associated with The Transformers...I just write about them. Now that that's out of the way, the recap! Last time, the Maximals and Predacons finally found Dinobot, but they also ran into Blastcharge. Things were looking grim until Blastcharge mentioned that he scrapped Cybertronian civilians, causing an enraged Rampage to reveal himself and destroy Blastcharge. Well, that just about sums it up! One more thing though: I hope you enjoy the story, and please remember to leave a review. Thanks for reading!

* * *

In the Decepticon Spire, Megatron was meeting with his loyalist drone generals, save Jetstorm, who was mysteriously absent.

"So, that foolish little drone Blastcharge is no more? Yessss, a fitting punishment for the traitor! Scorponok! Any news regarding the Maximals and those treacherous Predacons?" Megatron asked, turning to his reinstated second in command.

"We have very little information Megatron, aside from some reports of them finding a handful of survivors, nothing serious." Scorponok assured.

Megatron frowned "Contrary to what you see to believe, Scorponok, the Maximals finding survivors which _you're _forces missed is a serious issue. If we allow them to regroup, then we'll have to start this whole hunt all over again, and this time we won't have the advantage of knowing where there base is!" Megatron sighed "Incidentally, do we know where there base is?"

Scorponok flicked through some notes that he had prepared earlier "No sir, but I have redoubled my efforts and have started sending out twice the number of drones."

"Scorponok, can't you accomplish anything? While we speak, the Maximals are gathering up more forces to use against us! I don't want talk of you searching, I want results!" Megatron roared, causing Scorponok to jump.

Jetstorm suddenly burst in, covered in scrapes and laser scoring.

"Lord Megatron! Forgive my tardiness!" Jetstorm said, floating up to Megatron's throne and positioning himself beside Antagony and Thrust.

Megatron glared at the late arrival "And pray tell Jetstorm, where have you been?"

"I was out on patrol my liege." Jetstorm replied.

"Indeed? Then why are you smoking and covered in blast marks?" Megaton asked.

Jetstorm cleared his throat. "Separatist ambush my liege. Not to worry though, me and my Aero drone patrols were more than a match for Spy Streak's inferior Spy drones!"

"Is that so? Well, I look forward to reading about your daring exploits in your report!" Megatron said, glowering at Jetstorm as he did so "Now, hopefully we can avoid anymore interruptions and get on with our jobs! Antagony, I want you and Jetstorm to go out and search for any survivors of Scorponok's failures and terminate them!" Megatron ordered.

"Yes lord Megatron!"

"As you command, my liege."

"And one more thing..." Megatron said, and Jetstorm and Antagony turned to face him "In light of Blastcharge's recent demise, I shall be more lenient towards you, however, do not think for a nano klik that I intend to let you off easy for failure. Am I understood?"

"Yes, lord Megatron." Antagony replied.

"Crystal clear...sir." Jetstorm said.

The two walked off together in order to carry out their false leader's orders.

"Ugh! How much longer do we have to listen to that blowhard?" Jetstorm asked Antagony.

"He might be a blowhard, but he almost saw through your ruse." Antagony warned "But not much longer my dear Jetstorm, in fact, I've just received an intelligence report that the Tripredacus Council has just sent reinforcements, and with any luck, they should be here before the next uni cycle." Antagony replied.

"Excellent! With any luck, we'll soon be rid of that arrogant fool Megatron, once and for all!" Jetstorm exclaimed, before bursting into evil laughter, which was quickly joined by Antagony.

* * *

In the Maximal/Predacon temporary base inside of the Decepticon Crypt, the others were crowding around Dinobot. They were listening to him explain himself following the destruction of Blastcharge.

"...And so I discovered that Rampage had invaded my body. I didn't tell any of you because he said that he could conceal himself." Dinobot explained to the others.

"Rhinox, is this true?" Optimus Primal asked as Rhinox scanned Dinobot's body with a portable Spark detector.

"Hmmm, yes, it's true Optimus, even at the highest setting, I can still only detect one spark." Rhinox replied, staring at Dinobot with a mixture of curiosity and fascination.

"But there's one thing that I don't understand. Why did Rampage reveal himself and destroy Blastcharge?" Cheetor asked.

"Hmmm, I'm afraid that not even I can answer that question." Dinobot murmured.

_It is because that animal killed defectives. _

Dinobot jumped "He said it was because Blastcharge mentioned that he killed defectives."

"But why-?" Cheetor began, before a light shot out of Dinobot's chest.

Dinobot kneeled to the ground and clutched his stomach in pain as Rampage made an image of himself out of light.

"Because not even I would harm defectives...they are too similar to me...I understand their suffering, their pain. What that animal did is something that I would never do." Rampage explained, staring distantly.

"Defectives...like Transmutate..." Silverbolt said, his eyes glazing over.

Rampage sighed "Yes...like Transmutate...I've always sympathised with defectives...they are the only ones who never judged me, like all of you did."

"You ate hundreds of Maximals!" Rattrap exclaimed, jabbing a finger in Rampage's direction.

"Perhaps, but I was brought into this world against my will, and my actions are a result of my creators, the Maximal Elders, who wished to play God. If there is anyone to blame, it is them." Rampage replied.

Rattrap opened his mouth to argue further, only for Optimus to hold up a hand to silence him "Forget it Rattrap, we don't want to get into any arguments here." Optimus then turned to Rampage "Rampage, I cannot begin to comprehend your pain, but you can't allow you to remain in Dinobot's body."

Rampage snorted "Oh? And what are you going to do if I refuse to leave? Pull me out?"

"If it comes to that, then yes." Optimus replied.

Rampage cackled "You are a fool Optimus Primal! Attempting to do so would only kill Dinobot! No, I think I shall stay here!"

Optimus thought "Well, what if we were to offer you a new body? Would that appease you?"

"No, I prefer it in here." Rampage replied, folding his arms across his chest.

Optimus stared at Rampage in shock "Rampage, please, try to see reason! We need Dinobot operating at his best if he is to liberate Cybertron!"

Rampage just stood where he was, a blank look on his face "Did you forget who you're talking to? I never see reason, hence the murders and cannibalism, isn't that how you Maximals see things?"

Optimus sighed "Rampage, if you won't do it for me, do it for all those innocent defectives who were needlessly slaughtered by the Vehicons. You can avenge them Rampage, you can be their hero."

Rampage looked surprised, then turned away "I...I need time to think about this..."

And with that, Rampage's form shot back into Dinobot's spark compartment.

"Well Optimus, what do you think he'll say?" Rhinox asked.

"I think that after what I offered, he'll do the right thing." Optimus replied, not looking back at Rhinox, before walking off.

* * *

In the skies of Cybertron, Jetstorm, Antagony and a number of Aero drones were scouting the area, looking for any sign of either the Maximal/Predacon Alliance or the rogue Vehicon Separatists.

"See anything Jetstorm?" Antagony yelled to her flight companion.

Jetstorm sighed "Negative. You know, I'm starting to think that this was nothing more than a wild snipe hunt. I mean, we never see these Maximals or Predacons unless they're out in the open, they always just seem to disappear. And as for those damn rebels-"

"They're right above us."Antagony interjected, pointing up.

"Eh?" Jetstorm asked, glancing skyward.

As it turned out, Antagony was correct, flying above them were Spy Streak and his legion of Stealth drones.

"An ambush! Quick, prepare for combat!" Jetstorm ordered, and soon, the Aero drones were getting ready to fight their former allies.

Soon, the two opposing forces collided, and both forces opened fire. It was chaos in the skies as all sides opened fire. Both Aero and Stealth drones began dropping from the air like flies, leaving smoking trails behind them as they began crashing into the once bustling streets of Cybertron. Antagony blasted a stealth drone that attempted to sneak up on her from her left, before using her optic lasers to shoot down that was on the tail of one of the Aero drones.

"Jetstorm! Behind you!" Antagony warned.

Jetstorm whirled around in time to see Spy Streak rush towards him. Spy Streak performed a mid air tackle and caught Jetstorm in his grip.

"Well my old friend, it looks like we're finally facing each other in the skies of combat! It's almost poetic isn't it? Two former allies, now fighting on opposing sides of the battlefield!" Spy Streak said as he levelled his weapons at Jetstorm.

"Poetic? Ha! You know nothing of poetry you cowardly freak!" Jetstorm taunted.

"A freak am I?" Spy Streak asked "Well, better to be a freak than a molten pile of slag!" And with that, Spy Streak fired his weapon.

Both Spy Streak and Jetstorm were surprised when an Aero drone flew in front of Spy Streak's shot, apparently in defence of his leader.

"Incredible!" Spy Streak exclaimed "For a foolish follower of that idiot Megatron, you certainly hold the sparks and minds of your soldiers!"

Jetstorm scowled "I was never a follower of Megatron! We just thought that it would have been safer to wait until we could convince Megatron to allow reinforcements to land here! You and Tankor were foolish! You never were patient Spy Streak, it always had to be action and combat!"

"True, whereas you and Thrust were always happy to sit on the sidelines and allow others to do your dirty work!" Spy Streak countered as he fired a shot which barely missed Jetstorm's head.

"We are not cowards Spy Streak! We were merely being practical! If either of us were to die, then our soldiers would have been reduced to leaderless wrecks with no form of guidance, and the Vehicons would have been dealt a crippling blow!" Jetstorm yelled a he fired a missile.

"Phffft, I think what you mean to say is you're a coward, Thrust is a coward, you're filled with cowardice and you both act like cowards!" Spy Streak taunted as he dodged a shot from an Aero drone and fired a retaliatory shot.

"Would you morons shut up and start shooting like you mean it?" Antagony yelled at the two aerial Vehicon generals.

Spy Streak sniffed "Just because we're fighting doesn't mean that we can't be civil!"

"My thoughts precisely Spy Streak!" Jetstorm said, before he launched himself at Spy Streak.

"Argh!" Spy Streak exclaimed as he frantically wrestled with Jetstorm.

Spy Streak was quickly gaining the upper hand, despite Jetstorm's sneaky and underhanded tactic which had initially given him the advantage. With his clamp, Spy Streak grabbed one of Jetstorm's arms, and then he raised his laser cannon and aimed it squarely at Jetstorm's head.

"Now "old friend", I think I shall blow off your insignificant little head and then dance upon your remains!" Spy Streak said in a way which was both demented and gleeful, before cackling.

Jetstorm closed his optics and waited for the end...but it never came.

"Urk!" Spy Streak exclaimed, releasing Jetstorm.

"Wha-?" Jetstorm began, before Spy Streak began plummeting to the ground, and as he did so, Jetstorm noticed the gaping hole in Spy Streak's back.

Jetstorm glanced behind him and saw Antagony hovering there and clutching a rifle.

"Saved your life." Antagony said nonchalantly.

With the defeat of their leader, the Stealth drones fell into disarray, and soon became easy prey for the Aero drones and their leaders, Jetstorm and Antagony, who picked them off with ease. When it was all over, Jetstorm and Antagony touched down on the ground. They soon found what they were looking for, the not quite deceased body of Spy Streak.

"Oh...very good...I see that you came to send me off...how nice of you Jetstorm..." Spy Streak said weakly.

"Yes, I guess you could say that we're your angels of mercy, come to send you on your way..." Jetstorm said faintly.

"Well then...what are you waiting for? Finish it, finish me..." Spy Streak said, his voice rising slightly.

"Oh, don't worry, we will." Antagony said as she raised her weapon and levelled it at Spy Streak's head.

In the empty streets of Cybertron, the echo of the gunshot could be heard for miles.

* * *

End of chapter 22. Yeah, this is the first appearance of Antagony and Spy Streak for a while, and I think that this chapter really gives you an idea of who they are, or so I hope anyway. Now, I had to write this entire thing from scratch in one night, so I hope that you appreciate it, it's not easy writing fanfiction. Well, I hope you enjoyed the story, and I would like to remind you that I am open to constructive criticism, so don't forget to leave reviews. Ok, that's about it from me, so thanks for reading!


	23. A Secret Attack Strategy?

Welcome back to New Beast Wars, chapter 23. Once again I am forced o admit that I do not own Beast Wars, Beast Machines, IDW comics or any characters that are associated with The Transformers. Last time, the second rebellious Vehicon general, Spy Streak, was terminated by his former comrade, Jetstorm and newcomer, Antagony, Now the Vehicon Separatists are down to two, Blastcharge and Tankor. Will their plans for rebellion succeed, despite the fact that they are now outnumbered? Tune in today to find out!

* * *

Jetstorm, Antagony and the Aero drones under their command flew around Cybertron, hunting for any survivors of Scorponok's ambush on their base. Following their battle with Spy Streak and his forces, Jetstorm looked even worse for wear than before, a fact which Antagony was very quick to point out.

"Jetstorm? Forgive me for saying so, but after our little encounter with one of your treacherous companions, you're looking...how shall I put this? Less than your best?" Antagony said.

Jetstorm chuckled "Yes, I suppose I do. You remember earlier when I told Megatron that I was damaged because of a run in with Spy Streak? Well, now I can say that's true!"

Antagony frowned "Where where you, really?"

Jetstorm turned to face her "I was out entertaining St-"

"Look out!" Antagony cried, veering suddenly to the right.

"Wha-?" Jetstorm began, before a shot glanced one of his wings "Slag! What was that?"

Jetstorm looked down to see what had shot at him. From below he could see four figures. Two of them were clearly the Maximals Claw Hammer and the cowardly Packrat, while the third one was a Predacon which Antagony vaguely recognised as the Fuzor Buzzclaw. Lying on the ground was another Predacon, Iguanus. Jetstorm briefly scanned the downed Predacon to find that he was not dead, but merely injured. He also noted that while Claw Hammer, Buzzclaw and even the injured Iguanus were firing, Packrat just seemed to be standing where he was.

"Curious" Jetstorm mused "The injured one is still capable of firing, and yet the little one does nothing...why?"

Antagony scowled "It's Packrat, he's a loathsome little coward. When we go down there and kill them, I call dibs on him!"

Jetstorm chuckled "My dear Antagony, you are as ruthless as Tankor and yet you have the intelligence of...well, me. You'll fit in perfectly within out ranks!"

Antagony rolled her optics "Oh, sounds delightful."

"Do I detect a note of sarcasm?" Jetstorm asked as he opened fire on the Predacons, and Packrat.

"Well, you seem to forget Jetstorm that I was sent to infiltrate the Maximals and Predacons forces, not join you on your little crusades. As it is, my rank is higher than yours or Megatron." Antagony replied.

Jetstorm laughed "Oh, I see how it is. You're just upset because the major's taking orders from the captain!"

Antagony stared at Jetstorm "Well, that's one way of putting it...I suppose..."

On the ground, Buzzclaw was getting annoyed with Packrat "Damn it coward! Fire your weapon!" Buzzclaw ordered.

"But...but what if they retaliate?" Packrat whimpered.

Buzzclaw growled "Their retaliation is going to be nothing compared to mine of you don't shoot!"

Packrat emitted a cry, then, hesitantly, began to half heartedly fire on the Aero drones.

"Wait...who's that up there?" Air Hammer asked, peering up.

"Hmmm?" Buzzclaw asked, turning to see what Air Hammer was looking at "It looks like...Antagony!" Buzzclaw exclaimed.

Air Hammer cursed "So, now it seems as if that little traitor is working for the Vehicons! Boys, what's say we give her a little present?"

"Sounds good to me!" Iguanus said as he raised his rifle in order to open fire.

Together, all four of them opened fire on Antagony, Jetstorm and the Aero drones.

"Blast!" Jetstorm exclaimed "They're putting up a much better fight than what I had anticipated!"

"Oh, what are you worried about my dear Jetstorm? It's four against forty, we have nothing to fear!" Antagony replied.

"Think again traitor!" A voice cried out.

"Eh?" Antagony turned in time to see Vespid barrelling towards her "Oof!" Antagony grunted as Vespid rammed her.

"What? Reinforcements!" Jetstorm shouted as more Maximals and Predacons came into view.

"Forward!" Magmatron cried out as he advanced.

Behind Magmatron, Dinobot, Cheetor and Beeline rushed forward. Running alongside Dinobot was the ghostly image of Rampage, who tore into the drones like they were tissue paper. In the skies, the Pterosaur Squad was leading the New Insecticons into battle. Seeing the newcomers, Buzzclaw and his group were inspired to fight back even harder than they were before.

"No! No! This cannot be happening!" Jetstorm exclaimed as his drones began dropping from the skies, trailing exhaust fumes as they fell, before eventually colliding with the ground.

"Waspinator finally show others that Waspinator can do something!" Waspinator cried as he charged Jetstorm, only to be sidestepped and shot down "Whhhhhhyyyyyy?" Waspinator cried out as he plummeted.

Not far away, Antagony was engaging in a struggle with Vespid.

"So...it seems that the traitor finally shows her true colours!" Vespid said through gritted teeth as he tried to push Antagony back.

"Traitor implies that I was always on your side!" Antagony replied, using her boosters to her advantage.

"Two can play at that game!" Vespid said as he used his rockets to surge forward.

"Argh! No fair, cheater!" Antagony cried "Oh well, I guess I'll just have to even the odds!"

With that, Antagony activated her optic lasers, hitting Vespid full in the face.

"Argh! My face!" Vespid screamed as he clutched his face, from which smoke was streaming.

Antagony smirked "Well now, perhaps that will teach you not to cheat back!" Antagony was about to finish Vespid off, when someone shot her in the back "Argh! Who dares?"

"I dares!" Insecticon said, flying up behind Antagony "And I think that if you and your little friend over there want to keep your thrusters, you better skedaddle!"

Antagony snorted "Oh yeah? You and what army?"

As if on cue, the rest of the New Insecticons flew up beside Insecticon.

"How about this one?" Scarem asked, brandishing his scythes menacingly.

Antagony scowled "Well, it looks like I'm outnumbered...but surely you'd take pity on a helpless lady?" Antagony asked.

"Not gonna work, cause you're no lady!"Scourge taunted.

Antagony snarled "Why you insignificant little bug! How dare you talk to me that way?" Antagony made as if to attack Scourge, only for Scarem to fly in front of her.

"Not a single wing beat closer! Although, if you'd like to take your chances with my blades here, then I won't stop you, but good luck!" Scarem said threateningly.

Antagony scowled, before turning to face Jetstorm "Jetstorm! We're leaving! Right now!" Antagony commanded.

Jetstorm turned to face Antagony in shock "But Megatron said-!"

"Never mind Megatron! Right now, we need to worry about us!" Antagony interrupted.

Jetstorm turned to watch his Aero drones. He could see that they were losing, the earlier fight against Spy Streak and his Stealth drones had clearly taken its toll on his men. Terrorsaur and Fractyl were shooting down drones left and right, while Lazorbeak mowed them down with his mega cannon. Meanwhile, Buzzclaw and Air Hammer had taken to the skies to join their comrades, and were helping them to shoot down Jetstorm's forces. While Air Hammer actually began biting and mauling Jetstorm's forces, Buzzclaw was using his incredible claws to rip them to shreds.

"Blast! Just for once, I wish that you were wrong my dear Antagony! Very well, drones! Pull back, we are retreating!" Jetstorm called out, motioning with his arms.

"Finally!" Antagony exclaimed before turning to the New Insecticons "Don't think that this is over, you carapaced freaks! I'll be back to settle the score eventually, and when I do, there is going to be hell to pay for all of you!"

And with that, Antagony jetted off, closely followed by Jetstorm and the few surviving Aero drones.

"Well, I think that went down very well." Scourge said calmly.

"What about Vespid?" Scarem asked in a concerned tone of voice.

Insecticon flew over to Vespid, who was still clutching his face. With great difficulty and a lot of reluctance, Insecticon peeled Vespid's hands away from his face.

Insecticon sighed in relief "He's fine! He's a little burnt, but it doesn't look like it'll scar! Probably a result of becoming a Transmetal!" Insecticon called out to his comrades.

"Well that's certainly a relief." Scarem said.

"Personally, I could not care less." Scourge said, earning him a glare from Scarem and Insecticon "What?"

Soon, they joined the others on the ground.

"Buzzclaw, Iguanus, good to see that you're alive." Magmatron said, greeting his troops "What's the damage to Iguanus?"

"I'm fine sir...just a little scrape to my side." Iguanus said as he struggled to stand up, he was aided by Air Hammer and Buzzclaw.

"Hmmm, and what was Packrat doing during this whole fiasco?" Insecticon asked, staring at Packrat intensely.

"I...I was helping to fight! They saw me! You saw me right guys?" Packrat quickly said, motioning to those he had been with.

"Technically true sir, but only after we threatened him to fire!" Buzzclaw said as he glared at his cowardly companion.

Packrat flinched "But...I still helped, you can't deny that!"

Air Hammer sighed and rolled his optics "Always making excuses for yourself! Well you know what? One day, your cowardice and penchant for making up excuses is going to put you in a very difficult position Packrat, and when that day comes, I hope I'm there to see it!"

Packrat whimpered "You...you guys never gave me a chance! You were always picking on me! From the moment I got here! You all judged me because I was a thief!"

Cheetor, Beeline, Dinobot and Rampage walked up to the group to hear what Packrat was whinging about this time.

Air Hammer scowled "No, we judged you because you were a coward who was only out for himself! All you ever did was leech off of others! We despised you for that! We gave you plenty of chances to redeem yourself and you know what? You blew them all! Get out of my sight vermin!"

Packrat stared at Air Hammer in shock, before he turned and ran off. Cheetor moved as if to stop Packrat, but Buzzclaw placed a clawed hand on the shoulder that Beeline wasn't perched on.

"Wait. If that coward wants to run away, then I say let him, it's no skin off my back!"

Air Hammer glared in the direction that Packrat had run off in "He'll be back in any case. Disgusting little cowards like him always come back because they can't live on their own, they rely on others to do the work for them!"

* * *

In the Separatist Vehicon base, Quake was sitting by himself when Tankor walked up to him.

"Quake! Why are you just sitting there? It's almost time to move the troops for the Big Push!" Tankor asked his subordinate.

Quake sighed "It's...it's Blastcharge...I'm just thinking about all of the mean stuff that I said to him...I never really meant it...but now...now I can't really tell him that, can I?"

Tankor narrowed his eyes "Are you getting sappy on me Quake?" Tankor backhanded Quake, sending him flying "Don't you dare go soft on me now Quake! We can't afford it! Not when we're so close to victory!"

Quake got up and laughed "Victory? Tankor, half of us are dead! Megatron got two new deputies since we left, and yesterday I saw Jetstorm talking to this new guy, looked like an Aero drone, only red."

Tankor scowled "A new player? Well, we'll just have to deal with him when the time comes! But for now, we have to focus on the plan!"

Quake rolled his optics "Plan? Tankor, there's no plan! It's just "march up to Megatron's front gate and shoot everything that moves, and then, shoot everything that doesn't move for good measure" That's your God damn plan Tankor!"

Tankor growled at Quake, causing a few Tank drones to turn and stare "How dare you question my plans? They're brilliant plans, give them a chance! And besides, they're better than anything that idiot Blastcharge could come up with!"

"Don't you dare insult Blastcharge!" Quake shouted, leaping to his feet.

The two faced each other and stared into each other's eyes. Finally, Tankor made a move. He lunged forward, catching Quake off guard.

"I do not want to hear another word out of you Quake! Am I understood!" Tankor said in a dangerously low voice, his hands around Quake's neck.

"P...perfectly!" Quake spat out.

Instantly, Tankor released Quake "Good, now get ready. We have a big day ahead of us tomorrow!"

Quake watched as Tankor strolled off "Fool." Quake muttered to himself, although not even Quake knew whether he was talking about Tankor or himself.

* * *

Elsewhere, a team composing of Optimus Primal, Rhinox, Manterror, Transquito, K-9, Armordillo, Snarl and Claw Jaw had stumbled upon a number of survivors, such as Torca, Razorbeast, B'boom, Ramulus and Sonar. Surrounding them were the bodies of numerous Cycle drones who had attempted to destroy them. In his hands, Rhinox still held a pair of smoking chain guns.

"Razorbeast, I cannot begin to tell you how glad I am to see you." Optimus said as he walked up to Razorbeast.

"The feeling is entirely mutual Optimus."

"Yeah, and from what I've heard, Rattrap is gonna be pleased to see you Sonar!" Snarl said.

Sonar giggled "Really?"

"Oh yeah, every time someone comes back from rescue patrol, he always asks "Have you found Sonar yet?" It's hilarious, really it is!" Snarl replied, earning him a glare from Armordillo.

"Clearly he still has much to learn." Armordillo said to Claw Jaw, who nodded in agreement.

"Now Optimus, pleasantries aside, what is the situation?" Razorbeast asked.

And so, Optimus began explaining what had happened to the recently discovered Maximals.

* * *

In deep space, a lone ship was hurtling rapidly towards Cybertron. Inside, a single figure sat hunched at the controls.

"Soon my Maximal friends, I shall arrive, and soon, you shall be terminated!"

* * *

End of Chapter 23. Well, what did you think? I certainly hope that you enjoyed it. It looks like things are really falling apart for the Vehicon Separatists, but what is this big plan that Tankor's mentioning? And will things change now that the Maximals and Predacons know that Antagony is working for Megatron now? And who is this mysterious person in the ship headed for Cybertron? I guess you'll just have to find out next time! Thanks for reading, and don't forget to leave a review.


	24. An Unusual Alliance: Part I

Hello, once again, allow me to show you a little story that I like to call, New Beast Wars, chapter 24. As usual, I do not own Beast Wars, Beast Machines, IDW Comics or any characters that are associated with The Transformers...how unfortunate. Anyway, last chapter, more survivors were found, Quake showed signs of regret and a mysterious craft was making its way towards Cybertron. Yeah, a shorter recap than usual, but not a heck of a lot happened compared to most other chapters, oh well, hopefully this chapter will be different! So sit back, open a packet of chips (or crisps if you prefer) and delve into the latest chapter. Thanks for reading!

* * *

In the Decepticon Spire which served as Megatron's fortress, Thrust and Antagony were conspiring against their leader. Jetstorm was absent, apparently he had "other matters" to attend to. Thrust thought he had a pretty good idea what these other matters might be, but there really was no point in dragging him away from his work, it would be damn near impossible.

"Now Antagony, since we have finally prepared a plan to deal with Megatron, I must ask you, what about the loose ends?" Thrust asked as he and Antagony strolled down a corridor.

"Loose ends?" Antagony asked, a confused look on her face.

"I'm talking about Scorponok." Thrust replied.

"Oh, him? Could we try to bribe him over to our side?"

Thrust shook his head "No, he's too blindly devoted to Megatron, he'd never go for it."

Antagony shrugged "Then we shall simply have to deal with him when this is all over. Don't worry, I'm sure that we could take him, it will be three against one after all!"

"Perhaps, but he has demonstrated a certain...fire, whenever we badmouth that arrogant cretin Megatron. I advise caution when the time comes to dealing with him, it would do us no good to underestimate him." Thrust said as he began plotting the ways in which he, Jetstorm and Antagony could remove Scorponok from the equation.

* * *

Meanwhile, in the Vehicons new secret lair, Jetstorm was examining the blank protoforms which would very soon house their hopes and dreams of destroying the Maximals and their Predacon allies once and for all. Jetstorm held up a spark container which held a captive spark, before putting it back on a rack with another spark container.

"Soon my pet" Jetstorm crooned "Soon you will be complete, and then we can finally be rid of those meddlesome Maximals and those inferior Predacons!"

* * *

Not too far from the Decepticon Spire, Silverbolt and Manterror were flying around the city, looking for any survivors of the Vehicon ambush that had destroyed their base and scattered the ranks across Cybertron.

"See anything?" Silverbolt called out.

"Nothing yet, I...Wait! Down there! Do you see that?" Manterror shouted to Silverbolt, who looked down and saw an amazing sight.

Hundreds of Vehicon Tank drones were rolling toward the Decepticon Spire. At the head of the charge were two Vehicons in vehicle mode that Silverbolt and Manterror immediately recognised as Tankor and Quake, the two remaining leaders of the Vehicon Separatist Movement.

"What should we do?" Silverbolt asked, turning to Manterror "Should we alert Optimus?"

"Optimus? Bah! I say that we go down there and investigate this ourselves! Come on Silverbolt!" Manterror ordered as he flew down towards the Tank drones.

"Wait! Manterror, wait!" Silverbolt cried as he struggled to keep up with the Predacon mantis.

"Tankor, look!" Quake exclaimed, pointing a finger in the direction of Silverbolt and Manterror.

"Eh?" Tankor asked, turning to look where Quake was pointing "Maximal ambush! Drones, open fire!"Tankor commanded.

At their general's behest, the Tank drones commenced fire on the two newcomers. Their shot's exploded in the air around them.

"Gah!" Manterror cried as a shell exploded near him, the heat scorching his face "Um...I'm beginning to have second thoughts about this plan!"

"Wait, perhaps we can negotiate with them! They also oppose Megatron and his rule, perhaps we can aid them! As they say, the enemy of my enemy is my friend!" Silverbolt said as he flew closer to Tankor and Quake.

Tankor looked to Quake and noticed that he was not firing his weapon, in fact, he had not even raised it "Quake! Fire your weapon ya damn idiot!" Tankor commanded.

Quake sighed "Oh, what's the point? There's too few of us to really do any damage to Megatron and his forces, and even if we did, then we would have to deal with the Maximals and Predacons! Why not just give up now Tankor, can't you see how utterly useless it all is!"

Tankor glared at Quake "Oh, God damn it Quake! I thought we got over this! Stop mopping and fire, or so help me Unicron, I will kill you myself!"

Once again, Quake sighed, but this time he raised his weapon and opened fire. Luckily for him, Tankor did not notice that he wasn't even aiming for a specific target, he was just firing randomly into the sky.

"Wait, cease your firing!" Manterror ordered.

"And why should we do that, Predacon?" Tankor asked as he fired another shell.

"Because, we can help you!" Manterror replied.

"Oh? And how could you help us?" Tankor asked, still firing.

"We propose an alliance! Please, allow us to work alongside one another, Maximal, Predacon and Vehicon! Together, we can combine our forces and eradicate Megatron!" Silverbolt cried out, dodging a shell.

"Hmmm...No deal Maximal!" Tankor sneered as he fired more rounds at the pair.

"Wait!" Quake exclaimed "Tankor, allow them to help us! Their numbers and skills could be invaluable to us in battle! We need them, otherwise our "plan" will not succeed!"

Tankor growled "Oh? And since when did you make the decisions around here Quake?"

"Tankor, please! Let them help us! If we were to try and go up against Megatron by ourselves, then we would surely be terminated! You know that! Let them help us!" Quake pleaded.

Tankor abruptly stopped firing "Hmmm, I shall think it over...Drones! Cease fire!" Tankor ordered.

Instantly, the drones complied, and all of them remained motionless.

"Good. Tankor, Pulverize!" Tankor cried out, before returning to robot mode "Quake, come with me, we will discuss this over there." Tankor said, pointing to a tent that the drones had hastily constructed to serve as Tankor's strategy room.

"As you command Tankor. Quake, Exterminate!" Quake cried out, before he too converted to robot mode.

* * *

Tankor and Quake walked over and entered the tent. Inside was a Diagnostic drone that Tankor had captured and reprogrammed earlier. It was perhaps the only thing that Tankor didn't seem to hate, for he had yet to attempt to attack it. Tankor had even lovingly named the drone Hank.

"I take it you were monitoring the conversation Hank?" Tankor asked.

"Yes sir, I heard every word." Hank replied.

"And what is your diagnosis? Is an alliance with the Maximals and the Predacons wise?" Quake asked.

Hank sighed "Please don't use doctor jargon, it makes you seem much less intelligent than you already are. As for your query, I believe that the answer is yes, an alliance between us and the Maximals and Predacons could be extremely beneficial."

Tankor nodded "Good, then we shall join them, at least until the time is right, and we can double cross them!"

"Wait, why are you agreeing to join the Maximals because a Diagnostic drone says so? Isn't my opinion good enough? I mean, I suggested it in the first place!" Quake exclaimed, looking slightly annoyed.

"Perhaps, but I trust Hank's judgement much more than I trust yours." Tankor replied, leaving Quake stunned.

"Unbelievable...simply unbelievable..." Quake muttered to himself as Tankor and Hank left in order to inform Silverbolt and Manterror of the good news.

* * *

Outside, Manterror and Silverbolt were waiting. Surrounding them were hundreds of immobile Tank drones. Understandably, Manterror was unnerved to say the least.

"This is creepy beyond all reasoning..." Manterror said as he poked a Tank drone, who did nothing in response.

"When will they be back do you think?" Silverbolt asked, when he heard a low rumbling.

Silverbolt turned to see Tankor, Quake and a Diagnostic drone coming towards them.

"Ahem" Tankor cleared his throat "We have considered your offer Maximal, and we have decided..." Tankor paused, and Manterror and Silverbolt leaned in expectantly "...To accept your offer of an alliance."

Silverbolt and Manterror let out audible sighs of relief.

"This is fantastic! We'll fly straight back to base and alert Optimus to this glorious news!" Silverbolt exclaimed.

"Yes, be sure to do that. In the meantime, me and my forces shall prepare for battle!" Tankor said.

"Battle?" Manterror asked.

"Yes, on the morrow, our forces shall march up to the gates of Megatron's citadel and we shall take it! We shall destroy all who get in our way, so you have made a wise choice in siding with us Predacon!" Tankor replied.

"Uh yes...well then, we shall leave to inform Optimus of this at once!" Manterror said, glancing at Silverbolt.

"Oh yes, immediately!" Silverbolt replied, not catching Manterror's side long glance.

With nothing left to say, the two flew up into the air and began their flight back to base, where they would tell Optimus of the news of their alliance.

* * *

"You did what?" Optimus exclaimed, shocked to hear what his two scouts had told him.

"We, uh...proposed an alliance between us and the Vehicon Separatists?" Manterror said uncertainly.

"You didn't tell them where the base was, did you?" Optimus asked in a worried tone of voice.

"No, of course not Optimus! We would never do something so foolish!" Silverbolt replied.

"You already have! How could you propose an alliance between us and our enemies without consulting me first?" Optimus asked, equally shocked and outraged.

"Optimus, try to understand, we thought that we were doing what was best for our cause!" Silverbolt said.

"Yes, that's right Optimus! An alliance with the treacherous Vehicons could mean a quicker end to this war!" Manterror added.

Optimus sighed "I can understand your reasoning, but your actions were potentially dangerous. What if the Vehicons had simply destroyed you?"

"Well, they almost di-Oof!" Silverbolt began, before Manterror elbowed him in the stomach to silence him.

"We were careful Optimus, we remained in the air the entire time, and we were never in any real danger!" Manterror lied.

Optimus sighed once again "You may think what you did was a good decision, but it was a potentially bad one, please try to understand that."

"Oh, but we do Optimus! But what is a good soldier without taking risks?"Manterror asked.

"Hmmm, a good point...Allow me to talk this over with the others, then we shall make a decision." Optimus said as he walked off to gather the other high ranking Maximals and Predacons.

* * *

Later, in a crudely formed assembly area, Optimus had gathered those he had most wished to speak with. With him were Rhinox, Rattrap, Dinobot, Cheetor, Razorbeast and Magmatron.

"Now, I'm sure that you're all wondering why I've called you together like this." Optimus said.

"You can say that again Optimus, just what the heck are we doin' here anyways?" Rattrap asked.

"Yeah, and where's Blackarachnia?" Cheetor asked, looking around "Isn't she normally invited to these meetings?"

Optimus sighed "Yes Cheetor, usually she is, but I want her absent for this meeting."

"Well, why Big bot, why wouldn't you want Blackarachnia here?"

"Because if she were here, then she would have a bias." Optimus replied.

"A bias? Why Optimus?" Razorbeast asked.

"Because Silverbolt has done something foolish...he has created an alliance between us and the Vehicon Separatists without my knowledge."

The assembled crowd gasped.

"Silverbolt? No way would he do somethin' like that!" Rattrap protested.

"I agree Optimus, it is simply not fitting with Silverbolt's usual style." Dinobot added.

_But how can you be sure that you know what he is really like? You all believed that I was simply a heartless monster until recently_

Dinobot glared down at his chest cavity "Quiet Rampage!" He snapped.

"Well, I believe that Silverbolt was talked into it by Manterror."

"Oh, of course, blame one of my men!" Magmatron objected.

Optimus sighed "Technically Magmatron, he's one of my men with a Predacon shell programming installed. The point of this meeting is not to point fingers, but to decide whether or not we should go through with this alliance."

Magmatron balked "Optimus, surely you can't be serious about this! We simply cannot ally ourselves with the enemy like this!" Magmatron reinforced his speech by pounding the desk with his fist.

"Why not? You allied with us didn't you?" Razorbeast pointed out.

Magmatron scowled "That was different!"

"I for one, am for the decision." Rhinox broke it, astonishing the others.

"Rhinox? You agree?" Optimus asked in surprise.

"I believe that if we want to end this war quickly, then we should ally with someone who shares a common enemy, even if they were enemies once too." Rhinox replied.

"I agree with Rhinox. Besides, we've already allied with our former enemies, isn't that right Magmatron?" Razorbeast asked, turning to look at his former arch nemesis.

"Well, seeing as how I don't want to look like a hypocrite, I too shall stand behind the decision!" Magmatron said, staring defiantly at Razorbeast (no one could tell but behind his mask, Razorbeast was smirking).

"I too shall agree with the action, it may prove to be useful in the future." Dinobot said.

_I agree too, I think it would be a wise decision, after all, who can really say what these Vehicons are really like?_

"Well frankly, I think you guys are nuts!" Rattrap exclaimed, leaping to his feet "Have you forgotten that these guys are supposed to be the enemy, or have I just lost my mind?"

"Rattrap, maybe allying ourselves with the Vehicons might be a good thing." Cheetor said.

"Well you can sure think so, but don't go blaming me when things go south!" Rattrap said as he sat back down.

"Then it's settled, we shall ally with the Vehicons." Razorbeast said.

"Yes...yes, I suppose so." Optimus said reluctantly "I suppose I had better go and tell Silverbolt and Manterror." Optimus stood up to leave.

* * *

"Really Optimus? You mean it?" Silverbolt asked, hope in his eyes.

"Yes Silverbolt, we have all agreed to join forces with the Vehicons, I only hope that it doesn't backfire..." Optimus said.

"Terrific news Optimus! Oh, I just remembered something, Tankor said that tomorrow he would be leading an assault against Megatron and his forces! He also said that he'd like us to join him!" Silverbolt exclaimed joyfully.

"...What?"

* * *

End of chapter 24. Well, I certainly hope that you enjoyed it. Who would have thought that the rebellious Vehicons would have teamed up with the Maximals and the Predacons to unite against a common foe? Next chapter will feature a fight scene for you to enjoy, and more on the insidious plans of the so called "loyalist" Vehicon generals. The blandness of Hank's name will be adressed shortly, there is a reason for it. Don't forget to leave a review, and thanks for reading! Until the next chapter!


	25. An Unusual Alliance: Part II

Hello once again, and welcome to yet another exciting instalment of New Beast Wars, chapter 25. As usual, I must warn you all that I do not own Beast Wars, Beast Machines, IDW Comics or any characters that are associated with The Transformers…oh well. Anyway, last chapter had the Maximals and the Predacons allying themselves with the Vehicon Separatists, as they prepare to launch an assault on Megatron's fortress: The Decepticon Spire. Will the attack succeed? And what about Jetstorm and his nefarious plans? Let's find out, shall we? Don't forget to leave a review when you're done, and thanks for reading!

* * *

Not too far from the Decepticon Spire, a meeting was taking place between the leaders of the Maximals, Predacons and Vehicons. They were all huddled around a table inside of a tent that the Vehicon forces had prepared. Sitting around the table were Optimus Primal, Razorbeast, Magmatron, Tankor, Quake and Hank, Tankor's closest confidante.

"Alright, we need to plan this battle out before we go rushing in." Razorbeast said, aiming a stern glance at Tankor.

"Bah! What's wrong with the plan we have already?" Tankor demanded.

"Oh well, let's see, the plan involves "Walk up to Megatron's front gate and shoot everything that moves, and then shoot everything that doesn't move for good measure"! That's your plan genius!" Magmatron said, glaring at Tankor.

"Thank you!" Quake said, throwing up his hands.

"Look, Tankor, as…simple as that plan is, we will need something much more…thought out if we are to stand any chance of defeating Megatron and his forces." Optimus Primal said, hoping to defuse the tense situation.

Tankor turned to Hank "Hank, what do you think of this?"

"I believe that the Maximal is right sir, your plan is…simplistic at best, imbecilic at worst…" Hank replied.

If it had been anyone else, Tankor would have slagged him, but luckily for the Diagnostic drone, Tankor liked him.

"Hmm, very good Hank. Maximals, Predacons, Quake, I leave the heavy burden of planning the assault on Megatron's fortress." Tankor said, as he stood up to leave.

When he was gone, Magmatron spoke "Well thank Primus for that! With that idiot gone, we'll have a much easier time of planning this attack! Incidentally, what was the name of the operation?"

"Operation Leroy." Quake replied sheepishly.

"Oh my God…" Razorbeast said, massaging his brow.

Optimus cleared his throat "Well, now that we have been placed in charge, we will rename the operation and significantly adjust it."

* * *

Outside, Manterror, Silverbolt, Rhinox, Dinobot, Cheetor, Blackarachnia, Rattrap and Vespid were standing outside of the tent, waiting for any news, when suddenly, Tankor came bursting out.

"Hmph! And what are you doing out here?" Tankor demanded, glaring down at the soldiers.

"We, uh…we were just coming over to see if anyone needed…refreshments?" Manterror replied, looking nervous.

Tankor narrowed his eyes "Well, in that case…get me a John Coffey! And add a little lemon slice!" Tankor said, before he rumbled off.

"John Coffey's not a drink…why the hell is that idiot in charge of the Vehicon Separatists?" Blackarachnia asked.

"It doesn't always take a genius to run an army" Rhinox reminded her "Before you joined the Predacons, Terrorsaur briefly overthrew Megatron, understandably, it didn't end to well…"

"Hey!" Terrorsaur cried out, walking over to the group of soldiers, alongside Lazorbeak, Fractyl and Waspinator.

Rhinox cleared his throat and looked sheepish "Ah, no offence intended of course Terrorsaur."

In response, Terrorsaur glared at Rhinox "Maybe it's not the best idea to tick off the guy who leads a squad of highly trained soldiers!"

"Highly trained soldiers?" Blackarachnia echoed "Fractyl's a geochemist, Lazorbeak's a trigger happy maniac and as for Waspinator…well, it is Waspinator…"

Terrorsaur and his squad mates stared at Blackarachnia in a mixture of horror and shock.

"…I take offence to trigger happy…" Lazorbeak said, finally breaking the silence.

Another silence followed it. Suddenly, it was broken once again when all present burst out into laughter. The other Maximal and Predacons that were nearby turned to see what the raucous was about, the Vehicons just went about their business.

"I have to admit, for a Pred, you can be pretty funny!" Rattrap told Lazorbeak, slapping him on the back.

"Heh, thanks. Ya know, for a Maximal, you're not too bad…for a Maximal of course!" Lazorbeak replied, putting emphasis on the word Maximal.

Blackarachnia rolled her optics "You just can't insult people nowadays…"

_I don't understand what you people are laughing about_

"Hmmm, neither do I, humour was never really one of my strong points." Dinobot replied.

* * *

High above, Jetstorm was observing the scene with fascination. He seemed to be particularly interested in Dinobot…

"Hmmm, yes, he has the exact qualities that I need…" Jetstorm said to himself as he flew overhead.

He remained flying overhead for a few moments, before flying back to base.

* * *

In the Decepticon Spire, Thrust was conversing with Antagony. As usual, they were conspiring to overthrow Megatron.

"So, as soon as the Maximals and the Separatists make their move, then we strike?" Thrust asked.

"Yes, that is when we shall strike." Antagony replied.

"And are you sure that it is safe? No chances of failure?"

"Yes, of course. Do you doubt me Thrust? Jetstorm would not doubt me." Antagony said, moving to put her arms around Thrust.

Thrust shook her off "Don't. You may have Jetstorm wrapped around your little finger, doesn't mean that you can do the same to me. I am nowhere near as gullible as he is."

"Aw, would Jetstorm like to hear you talking like this?" Antagony asked

Thrust glared at her "Jetstorm and I are friends, I would like to think that he would trust me over some Tripredacus agent who worked for the Maximals!"

"Hmmm, you seem to forget that what I did, I only did for the sake of removing Megatron from his ill gotten throne." Antagony said.

"So you say, personally, I have my doubts." Thrust replied, suddenly calm.

"Hmph! Look, I'll show you my loyalties my finishing off Megatron myself, you can just sit back and watch from somewhere safe!"

"Good, you do that." Thrust said, a bored look on his face, his voice uninterested.

Antagony stomped her feet and growled "You are the most infuriating being I have ever had the dishonour of meeting!"

"Nice to know." Thrust said as he rolled away.

* * *

Later, Optimus and the other leaders of the Maximal/Predacon alliance, plus Quake and Hank exited the tank and faced their massed forces. The Maximals and Predacons were standing at the front of the group, while the Separatist drone were standing in columns behind them.

"Attention, Maximals, Predacons and Vehicon forces!" Optimus cried out, facing the crowd "We have finally formulated a plan to defeat Megatron and his Loyalist forces!"

A cheer erupted from the assembled crowds.

"The first stage of the plan is simple, we shall begin our assault on the Decepticon Spire, where the Vehicons and a small detachment of out forces shall remain behind and delay the Vehicon Loyalists. Once inside of the fortress, the remainder of us shall work our way up until we hit the throne room. Once there, we shall surround Megatron, where he will hopefully surrender peacefully. Questions?" Optimus finished

"Uh, yeah, hello? Boss monkey? Exactly why do you think that Megatron will, uh…go peacefully?" Rattrap asked.

"We're hoping that if he sees that he's vastly outnumbered, Megatron will surrender himself into our custody." Optimus answered.

"And, uh, what makes you think that that's going to work?" Rattrap pressed.

Optimus sighed "Look, Rattrap, I understand your concern, but frankly, it would be suicide to stand up against all of us, Megatron would be foolish to try."

"And since when has Megatron ever been anything but foolish?"

Magmatron stepped forward "Megatron may be many things, rash, arrogant, cocky and boastful, but foolish is one thing that he is not."

"And what about Jetstorm, Thrust and Antagony? What about them?" Silverbolt asked.

"Well, we're hoping that they will come out and try to repel those who remain behind." Razorbeast replied

Beside him, Optimus shifted uncomfortably. He had still not told them that Scorponok lived and was working with Megatron. Optimus had believed that it would cripple the group's morale if they were to learn that one of them had turned traitor and was responsible for the deaths of numerous fellow soldiers. Soldiers like Archadis, Wolfgang and Apexus.

"And who shall remain behind?" Dinobot asked

_My thoughts exactly_

"We believe that the fliers should remain behind, as they will have more room to manoeuvre outside than if they were inside of the Spire." Razorbeast answered.

"Anyone else?" Dinobot asked.

"Well, you, Rampage if he wished, Torca, Ramulus, B'Boom and myself." Optimus replied.

Dinobot nodded "Yes, I shall relish the opportunity to test out my blades!" Dinobot said with a grin that showed a great many of his jagged teeth.

_I too shall join the fight, those animals shall pay for what they have done!_

"Then it's decided. All forces should prepare for battle, we leave in two mega cycles." Optimus announced.

The entire crowd erupted in cheering, some of the more excitable Maximals and Predacons even fired into the air.

Optimus sighed _If only we had rounded up more of the survivors before this time_ He thought.

* * *

In the Vehicons new hidden base, Jetstorm was examining a new device which he had invented. It was perhaps his cruellest creation yet, one which could inflict gruesome amounts of damage.

A portable spark extractor.

"Yes, this will do nicely!" Jetstorm said to himself "Eh?".

Jetstorm turned when he thought he heard screaming. He walked up to a rack on the wall. On the rack were two spark containers, one of them contained a fragment of Rhinox's spark, the other contained the spark of a much more powerful being, a being who was in incredible pain at being contained.

"Ah Starscream, I would have thought that you would have adjusted sufficiently since your imprisonment but alas, it would seem not." Jetstorm said to the container which held Starscream's ghost, before shaking it cruelly.

As he continued with his experiments, Jetstorm laughed at the prospect of returning to a Megatron free Cybertron.

* * *

Two mega cycles later, the Maximals, Predacons and Vehicons had assembled themselves just outside of Megatron's fortress: The Decepticon Spire.

"All right soldiers, on my mark, we rush forward" Optimus told the others "One…two-!" Optimus was cut off when Torca rushed forward.

"Three!" Torca yelled as he charged in the direction of the Spire.

Optimus groaned "All right soldiers! Forward!" Optimus ordered, and all around him, Maximals, Predacons and Vehicons rushed forwards towards the Spire.

"Eh?" Thrust asked when he felt a rumbling.

"Is that an earthquake?" Jetstorm asked as he struggled to remain upright.

"No, it can't be, unless…the Maximals are making their move!" Thrust exclaimed.

"Then we don't have much time! Quickly, tell Antagony to get into position!" Jetstorm ordered.

"Already there boys!" Antagony reported over the com link.

In Megatron's throne room, Megatron was looking out a window to see what was going on.

"The Maximals…the Predacons…working with the Vehicon Separatists? Argh! Curse that ineffective fool Scorponok!" Megatron exclaimed, punching the wall.

"My lord?"

Megatron turned to see Antagony walking up to him, her hands behind her back.

"Antagony! Quickly, go get Thrust, Jetstorm and Scorponok and prepare for battle! We're under siege!" Megatron ordered.

He was baffled when Antagony stood where she was, until she activated her com link and spoke into it "Thrust? Jetstorm? Do you copy?"

"Loud and clear Antagony. What's the situation?" Jetstorm's voice drifted through the com link.

"We're under attack by enemy forces, it would seem that the Vehicon Separatists are working alongside the Maximals and the Predacons." Antagony replied.

"We're on it Antagony! Jetstorm, out!"

Antagony changed frequencies "Scorponok?"

"Yeah? What do you want insect?" Scorponok asked over his com link.

"We're under attack from enemy forces, why don't you go out there and deal with that?"

"What? I don't take orders from you! I'm second in command!" Scorponok protested.

Megatron growled and activated his own com link "Damn it Scorponok, just do it!"

"Y-yes sir lord Megatron! Right away!"

"Incompetent fool!" Megatron cursed "Antagony! Get to your post immediately!"

Antagony simply smirked "Oh no, "lord Megatron" I don't think I'll be doing that!"

Megatron frowned "And why not?"

At that moment, an explosion rocked the Spire, and Megatron was sent sprawling.

"Ugh!" Megatron grunted as he hit the floor, he began to get up, but Antagony pointed a strange weapon at his chest.

"Because, you're no longer in control!" Antagony said, before she fired.

Megatron gasped. He suddenly felt cold all over. He looked down to see a cable had pierced his chest.

"Game over Megatron." Antagony said, before pressing a button on her weapon.

Instantly, the cable retracted, and a claw came out with it. Held in its grip was Megatron's spark. Megatron stumbled weakly towards it, hoping to stop it from leaving him. He only made it two steps, before he collapsed and darkness descended upon him.

Antagony snorted "Arrogant fool."

* * *

Outside, the fliers were shooting down heavy numbers of Aero drones.

"Ha, yeah! Shoot em' all down!" Injector cried out enthusiastically.

He suddenly let out a yelp as a shot clipped him.

"Watch out Predacon! There's only one ruler of the skies on this planet, and that's me!" Jetstorm gloated as he fired again.

"Whoa!" Injector cried out as the shot hit him, sending him spiralling from the sky.

"Injector!" Sonar called out, swooping down to grab him.

Meanwhile, on the ground, the Maximals and Predacons who had been assigned to storm the Spire were waiting outside of the entrance. Hank was attempting to open the gate with his hacking skills.

"Hmm, Megatron has significantly increased his defences. Not to worry, though I can break through is defences!" Hank said as he interfaced with the security console.

"Well, please, try to work as fast as you can!" Cheetor hurried as a shot whizzed by his ear.

"Aha! I think I have it!" Hank exclaimed in triumph as the doors opened "Quickly, inside!"

As the others rushed inside, Hank made sure to close and lock the doors behind him. Suddenly, Manterror dropped from the skies, having been shot down by an Aero drone. He turned to see a number of Cycle drones facing him.

"Open the doors Hank!" Manterror screamed, pounding his fists on the doors, he turned to see the Cycle drones had raised their weapons "Open the doors! Open the doors! Open the doors!"

* * *

Elsewhere on the battlefield, Dinobot and Rampage were fighting alongside each other.

"I never would have thought that I would have to fight alongside you Rampage!" Dinobot said as he ripped a Cycle drone's head off.

"Nor I you!" Rampage said as he tore another Vehicon in half.

"I would have thought that-Urk!" Dinobot was suddenly cut as a a cable pierced his chest.

Rampage's image flickered and died.

"Gotcha." Thrust said as he reeled the claw holding Rampage's spark back in, before driving off.

Dinobot collapsed. Rattrap witnessed this and ran over.

"Chopper face? Hey, speak to me! Dinobot! Dinobot!"

* * *

End of chapter 25. Well, pretty action packed eh? And a lot of secrets revealed too. So that was how they planned to dispose of Megatron! And now we know what happened to Starscream! Pretty exciting stuff eh? Well, thanks for reading, I hope that you enjoyed it. I'll have another update soon. Until next chapter!


	26. An Unusual Alliance: Part III

Hello and welcome to New Beast Wars, chapter 26, and not only is it a new chapter, but it is also the conclusion to the Strange Alliance trilogy arc. This chapter will see which side prevails, the Maximals and Predacons, the Vehicon Separatists, or the Vehicon Loyalists, as well as what will happen to Dinobot, Megatron and a number of others. Now that we have that out of the way, I am forced to concede that I do not own Beast Wars, Beast Machines, IDW Comics or any characters that are associated with the 'The Transformers' franchise, which is quite a shame really, as you probably would have seen something like this on your televisions instead of Beast Machines...Anyway, I'm getting off topic, so on one final note before we delve into this latest instalment, I would like to ask you to please review, and to please enjoy the story. Thanks for reading!

* * *

Rattrap ran over to Dinobot's motionless form and kneeled down. Following Thrust's attack, Dinobot had simply collapsed onto the ground and Rampage had mysteriously vanished. Rattrap took a look at Dinobot and groaned. A gaping hole was in Dinobot's spark compartment, and from within, Rattrap could only see a tiny flicker to indicate that there even was a spark at all.

"Chopper Face? Wake up! Come on, speak to me!"Rattrap pleaded to his fallen friend.

Rhinox, seeing Rattrap kneeling over Dinobot, rushed over to see what was happening.

"Rattrap, what's-? Oh, dear Primus..." Rhinox gasped when he saw what had happened to Dinobot.

Rattrap whirled around to face Rhinox.

"Rhinox! You have to fix him! Please, I know that you can!" Rattrap said, the panic evident in both his face and his voice.

"I...I'm not sure that I can Rattrap..." Rhinox said softly as he stared down at Dinobot's still form.

"Please Rhinox! You at least have to try!" Rattrap said, grabbing Rhinox's arms.

Rhinox sighed "Fine...I'll try Rattrap, I'll try."

Rhinox knelt down in front of Dinobot and opened up Dinobot's spark compartment. Inside, a tiny spark that could do barely more than flicker rested inside.

"We'll have to act fast if we're to save Dinobot's spark" Rhinox cantoned Rattrap "He's suffered a great deal of damage to his spark..." Rhinox paused and looked inside of Dinobot's spark compartment "Where's Rampage?"

Rattrap shook his head "That creep Thrust shot Dinobot with some kinda claw that ripped out Rampage's spark, and then he ran off!" Rattrap explained.

Rhinox cursed "Then that must be why Dinobot's in such a state! The shock of having Rampage's spark ripped out of his spark compartment must have done quite a bit of damage on Dinobot's spark."

Two cables suddenly shot out of Rhinox's chest. Rhinox opened his spark compartment and plunged one cable into his own spark. Rhinox grimaced in pain as he did so, but kept it there, before handing the other to Rattrap.

"Here, take it, we'll need it to jumpstart Dinobot's spark." Rhinox explained when he saw Rattrap's apprehensive look.

"Uh, say, is this gonna hurt much?" Rattrap asked as he hesitantly took the cable and opened his spark compartment.

"Not for long, about a minute maybe, but we don't have much time, if e don't hurry up, then we'll lose Dinobot's spark for good." Rhinox replied.

Rattrap sighed "The things I do for pals..."

And with Rattrap plunged the cable into his own spark. Rattrap winced, he had expected pain, but not quite this much. When Rattrap plugged the cable into his spark, it had felt like he had jammed a red hot needle into his chest.

"Alright...now what do we do?" Rattrap asked between long and laboured breaths.

"Now...we do...THIS!" Rhinox said, as he suddenly plunged the other end of the chord into Dinobot's weak spark.

Instantly, Dinobot's body jumped a little, as if it had been surged with electricity. Rhinox began to shudder, the pain was incredible for him, but he kept giving his energy to Dinobot.

"Isn't there some other way to do this?" Rattrap asked in a quiet voice as he watched.

"Not...without...the right...tools..." Rhinox said through gritted teeth "Now...hurry! If we don't...do this now, then it may be...too late!" Rhinox gasped through the pain to speak.

Rattrap looked down at the comatose Dinobot "You owe me for this Chopper face..." Rattrap muttered, before he inserted the other end of his cable into Dinobot's spark.

Dinobot's body leapt again and Rattrap began shuddering. It felt as if he were being electrocuted and the pain was intense for him. It might even have been worse in his case, as Rhinox was both bigger and stronger than Rattrap, so he could naturally endure more.

The two stood where they were, charging Dinobot's spark with their energy. Despite their efforts, it did not seem like they were getting very far, aside from the odd little twitch or leap, Dinobot's body remained still.

"This...isn't...working!" Rhinox choked out "We...need...more...power!"

"But...where...can we-?" Rattrap began.

He was suddenly cut off by a loud thump. Both Rattrap and Rhinox turned to see an allied Tank drone had fallen right in front of them, not quite dead, but not far from it. They glanced at each other briefly, before they ran over to the downed Vehicon. They could see that the light in the drone's optics had dimmed and would soon extinguish.

"Sorry big guy, but it's you or him." Rattrap said as he glanced at Dinobot.

Without a word, Rhinox grabbed a third cable and plunged it into the power grid of the Tank drone. It barely even noticed, the pain seemed nonexistent for it.

"Urk!" A voice cried out.

Rattrap and Rhinox whirled around. Dinobot was now twitching frantically and tapping his claws on the ground.

"It's working!" Rattrap exclaimed as Dinobot's body jumped around.

Dinobot suddenly sat bolt upright and roared.

"Chopper face!" Rattrap cried, running over to his friend.

Dinobot reached down and ripped the cables out of his spark, before standing up.

"I...live? But, how can this be?" Dinobot questioned.

"We brought ya back to live buddy! We did it!" Rattrap said joyfully, turning to Rhinox, who weakly smiled at Dinobot.

"Welcome back Dinobot." Rhinox said, a wan smile on his face.

"Thank you Rhinox" Dinobot suddenly looked around "But, where is Rampage?"

Rattrap lowered his head "Gone. That freak Thrust took him! He ran off!" Rattrap answered, looking around for any trace of Thrust.

Dinobot growled "Then he shall pay for this!" Dinobot said as he clenched his fist.

Quake suddenly rumbled up next to the three.

"I would hate to interrupt this touching moment, but we have a battle to win! Get back to fighting!" Quake commanded as he shot down an Aero drone.

"Well, you heard him Maximals! Dinobot, can you still fight?" Rattrap asked as he turned to his friend.

"Yes, I think so." Dinobot replied as he flexed his claws to be sure.

"Good, then let's give em' hell Maximals! Attack!" Rattrap ordered, before he, Rhinox and Dinobot charged at the enemy, a seemingly endless number of Cycle and Aero drones.

* * *

Inside of the Decepticon Spire, the Maximals and Predacons who had been assigned to capture Megatron were making their way forward, hoping to avoid the same traps that had hindered the original group that had tried to capture Megatron. So far, they had encountered none, but Optimus wasn't fooled, he would not be lulled into a false sense of security.

"It shouldn't be much further now" Tankor's diagnostic drone advisor (and only real friend), Hank said to the group as he floated along down a corridor.

"This is staring to seem way too easy Big bot." Cheetor whispered to Optimus Primal, who was leading the group.

"I know Cheetor, just keep your weapons ready and your guard raised in case we run into any traps." Optimus cautioned.

As the group prepared to round a corner, a shot rang out, almost hitting Iguanus

"Wha-?" Iguanus cried out in shock as the heat from the blast sent him reeling and activated his beast mode frill, which sprang up behind his head.

"Surrender Maximal scum! There's no way that you can defeat me!"

"Wha-? But it can't be...Scorponok?" Tigatron gasped in shock.

"That's right Maximal! I'm here to stop you from reaching Megatron! You'll never get by me!" Scorponok gloated as he raised his shoulder mounted laser menacingly.

"But Optimus...I thought you said that Scorponok was dead?" Blackarachnia asked, sending her leader a questioning glance.

Optimus sighed "No, I'm afraid it's much worse than that...Scorponok betrayed us and joined Megatron...he was the one who revealed the location of the base." Optimus said sadly, bowing his head.

Everyone turned and looked at Scorponok in horror. Finally, Landsaur broke the silence and spoke up.

"You miserable little traitor! I promise you, I will make you pay for what you did to my men!" Landsaur exclaimed as he pointed a finger at Scorponok.

"And we promise to do the same for what you did to our crewmates!" Tigatron said menacingly as he brandished his claws and positioned himself in a battle stance.

In response, Scorponok laughed "Well go ahead and try if you think you can take me, Maximal filth! And you Predacons should know better! How could you team up with a bunch of Maximal lowlifes? They stand to oppose everything that we believe in! Join Megatron, and we can destroy them! We can all rule Cybertron, together!"

Landsaur scowled "Rule below that treacherous fool Megatron? No thanks, I think I'll stick to my original orders and kill him for betraying the Tripredacus Council!"

"Oh yeah?" Scorponok asked, his offer of peace quickly forgotten "Well to do that, you'll have to get through me first!"

"You and what army" Claw Jaw asked incredulous that Scorponok would try to face them all by himself.

"Oh, know that you mention it..." Scorponok said with a smirk as a number of Mole and Tank drones lumbered up behind Scorponok "...This army!"

Terragator turned to Claw Jaw, frowning and glaring at the octopus Maximal "You just had to say it didn't you? You had to go about tempting fate! When this is all over, I'm going to kill you." Terragator said, glaring at a trembling Claw Jaw all the way through his little tirade.

"Hey, knock it off Terragator!" Spittor turned to admonish his friend.

"Hey, he started this when he went about tempting fate!" Terragator exclaimed, pointing at Claw Jaw, who whimpered in response.

"I don't care, just knock it off and prepare for combat!" Spittor said, glaring at Terragator.

Terragator turned back to Claw Jaw "We'll finish this later tentacle boy!"

"Maximals! Predacons! Attack!" Optimus commanded as he rapidly switched into beast mode and charged the Vehicon Loyalist forces.

Tigatron snarled as he leapt at a Mole drone in beast mode and began scratching and clawing the thing, quickly reducing it to shreds. Terragator was using his shield to absorb the enemy fire and run forward at the same time, when he reached a Tank drone, he quickly fired a few rounds into its chest. Retrax meanwhile, had curled up into a ball and was rolling into the Vehicon drones like a giant spiked bowling ball. Inside of his protective casing, Retrax smirked as he heard a Vehicon drone's head crunch as he rolled over it. Cheetor flicked his wrist, launching his flail into the face of an unfortunate Tank drone, leaving a dent where it used to be. When a Mole drone fired at him, Cheetor leapt back and found himself standing beside Tigatron.

"Having fun kid?" Tigatron asked as he gunned down another mole drone.

"You know it! How about you?" Cheetor responded.

"Well, you know me, I never was one for fighting!" Tigatron replied as he fired at a Tank drone.

Elsewhere, Claw Jaw had managed to hit a Tank drone, but his fire had done little more than slightly wound it, leaving a small hole in its chest.

"Beast Mode!" Claw Jaw cried out as he transformed into an organic octopus and launched himself at the Tank drone.

Claw Jaw used his body block the drone's vision, before using two tentacles to restrain its arms. With that accomplished, Claw Jaw then used his remaining tentacles to reach into the wound in the drone's chest. He then began pulling from the inside, quickly ripping the Vehicon apart.

"Claw Jaw, Maximise!" Claw Jaw cried out, leaping off of the drone and returning to robot mode, as he did so, the drone collapsed into multiple pieces "Now, what was that about a threat?" Claw Jaw asked, turning to a stunned Terragator.

Scorponok meanwhile, was now in a fist fight with Landsaur.

"Treacherous scum! I shall demolish you!" Landsaur spat as he fought Scorponok.

"Not if I kill you first, you so called Predacon!" Scorponok responded as he clamped one of his claws down on Landsaur's arm.

"Argh!" Landsaur cried out, before he used his free hand to punch Scorponok in the face.

"Urk! Predacon fool! No matter, I can still finish you off!" Scorponok said menacingly as he brought up his laser mounted cannon and aimed it at Landsaur's head.

"Freeze!" A voice cried out, causing both Scorponok and Landsaur to turn.

As Scorponok looked on in horror, a large grin appeared on Landsaur's face.

All of the Vehicon drones were dead.

"Ha ha! You've lost traitor!" Landsaur gloated "Why don't you give it up? Maybe, just maybe, we'll go easy on you!"

"Argh! Never!" Scorponok cried out as he released Landsaur, before firing at him in anger.

A single shot hit Landsaur in the chest, the others veered wildly off course. Suddenly, Scorponok found himself knocked off of his feet, Razorbeast had slammed into him. As Scorponok struggled to return to a standing position, he heard the sound of a gun cocking.

"Not so fast Scorponok!" Razorbeast said as he pointed his weapon at his foe's head "You're going to lay there ad stay quiet, or so help me Primus, I will slag you where you are!"

On the ground, Landsaur lay groaning, Seasaur and Optimus were by his side.

"How is he Optimus?" Seasaur asked nervously.

Optimus breathed a sigh of relief as he examined Landsaur's body "Don't worry Seasaur, he'll be fine, it looks like Scorponok isn't as powerful as he seems to believe!"

Scorponok stopped struggling "Megatron...forgive me..." Scorponok whispered to himself.

* * *

Outside, the battle was going extremely well for the Maximals, Predacons and their new allies, the Vehicon Separatists. Tankor, Quake and Prowl II were working alongside each other to destroy as many Vehicon Loyalists as possible.

"Well Tankor, as much as I hate to say it, it looks like working with you is really paying off!" Prowl said as he slashed a Cycle drone's throat wide open, spilling mech fluids in copious amounts.

"Tankor Smash!" Tankor exclaimed as he crushed a Cycle drone with his bare hands.

"Err, I think what Tankor is trying to say is that he agrees with you." Quake said "Look out!" Quake exclaimed suddenly, firing over Prowl's shoulder and destroying a low flying Aero drone.

"Hehn, nice shot Vehicon!" Prowl chuckled.

"Bonzai!" A voice from above cried out.

"Huh?" Quake looked up in time to see Vice Grip, Noctorro and Night Glider land on him, they were some of the few Maximals and Predacons who had not been found yet, and had clearly misinterpreted the situation.

"We'll teach you not to mess with one of us!" Noctorro growled as he gored Quake.

"Yeah! You and I have a little score to settle!" Vice Grip said as he began nipping Quake with his pincers.

"Maximal ambush!" Tankor exclaimed "I knew that you weren't to be trusted!" Tankor said as he glared at Prowl.

"What? Guys no! They're on our side!" Prowl yelled at the formerly lost Maximals and Predacon.

"Oh Primus! Have they brainwashed you Prowl?" Nigh Glider asked in horror as he prepared to impale Quake on his sword.

"No! There's no brainwashing we're allies now! We've teamed up to defeat the Vehicon Loyalists!" Prowl insisted.

"Loyalists?" Vice Grip asked, a confused look on his insect mode fce.

"Oh! You haven't heard of them! Well, the Vehicons split into two groups, we're allied with these guys now!" Prowl explained.

"Not anymore Maximal! You attacked us! The alliance is off! All drones, attack the Maximals and Predacons!"Tankor commanded.

Instantly, the Tank, Jeep and Stealth drones all turned on their former allies.

"Wha-?" Transquito asked as a Stealth drone shot at him in midair.

"What's going on?" Rhinox asked as a Jeep drone opened fire on him, Dinobot and Rattrap.

"We've been had men!" Ramulus exclaimed, suddenly turning on a Jeep drone "Retaliate, quick!"

"No! No!" Prowl exclaimed "It's a misunderstanding! Stop!"

"Tankor stop! It was a mistake! They are still our allies!" Quake pleaded with Tankor, trying to get him to see reason.

"No! It's a Maximal attack on us! They set us up! They cannot be trusted and so must be destroyed!" Tankor said.

"Tankor stop-!" Quake began, before Tankor cut him off.

"If you're not with me, then you're against me and must also be destroyed!" Tankor said, turning to face Quake.

A loud bang filled the air, and Quake was sent flying. At first, no one was quite sure what had happened, until they saw the smoking barrel of Tankor's cannon.

"Kill them! Destroy them!" Tankor commanded as he opened fire on the Maximals, Predacons and enemy Vehicons.

"This has to stop!" Airazor said as she flew down to confront Tankor "Please understand, what happened was a mistake! Can't you understand that?"

"I understand that you Maximals are liars! Die!" Tankor screamed as he opened fire again.

Airazor let out a gasp as the shot hit her, sending her flying.

"Airazor! No!" Prowl cried out as he saw the Airazor was missing a large portion of her face.

Tankor laughed "And now we see just how fragile these foolish Maximals are! We see just how pathetic and weak they are! We see...what?"

Tankor suddenly stopped in mid rant as Airazor stood up. Before their very eyes, Airazor's injuries mended themselves. Airazor's eyes suddenly glowed a deep red, and her spark compartment opened, and a bright red light illuminated the battlefield.

"What is this?"Tankor asked as he gazed at the light.

Suddenly, a beam of energy shot from Airazor's spark and hit Tankor.

"Noooooo!" Tankor cried out as the blast began to disintegrate his body.

"By Primus..." Prowl whispered in shock as Tankor's body came apart before his very eyes.

Suddenly, the beam cut off, standing where Tankor had been was nothing but a charred pair of boots. Airazor suddenly shut her eyes and collapsed, causing everyone else to run over to her.

"Rhinox, what happened to her?" Prowl asked in astonishment.

Rhinox could only look at Prowl with an expression of shock on his face "I...I don't know." Rhinox responded in awe.

* * *

Inside of the Decepticon Spire, the Maximals and Predacons were dragging Scorponok with them as they neared the throne room.

"Ah, here we are!" Hank said as he floated up to the throne rooms doors.

"Open the throne room doors Hank." Optimus commanded.

"Yes sir." Hank replied, and began humming _Daisy Bell _while he worked on releasing the locks on the door.

"You will never defeat Megatron! Never!" Scorponok spat.

Suddenly, the doors sprung open.

"Aha! I am a genius!" Hank said, more to himself than to the others.

As the doors opened, everyone gasped at the sight inside of the throne room, a sight that none of them ever would have believed they would ever see.

Megatron was lying on the ground in a crumpled heap, a gaping hole in his chest.

"Megatron! No!" Scorponok cried out, and pulled free from the two Maximals who were holding him to run over to his fallen leader.

"What could have happened here?" Landsaur murmured.

"A coup perhaps?" Razorbeast asked.

"Maybe...but the question now is, what do we do Optimus?" Cheetor asked, turning to his leader.

"We...we detain Scorponok and bring Megatron's body with us, we can capture the other Vehicon Loyalists later." Optimus said.

"No! No! Don't touch him!" Scorponok cried out as Cheetor and Tigatron began advancing on him.

"This is the way it has to be Scorponok!" Tigatron said as he continued to advance.

"No! We'll never surrender!" Scorponok yelled, before he scooped up Megatron's body and ran towards the window.

"Stop him!" Landsaur commanded.

It was too late, Scorponok leapt through the window, still carrying Megatron's body. He landed on an Aero drone and flew off to safety.

"He...he got away Optimus. I'm sorry, I should have been faster." Cheetor said in a disappointed voice.

"No Cheetor, you did what you could. Don't worry, we'll catch him later." Optimus reassured.

* * *

Later, the Maximals and Predacons who had been assigned to capturing Megatron walked back outside to see a number of dead Vehicons. Tankor was nowhere to be seen, but Quake was standing shakily, talking to Prowl and Airazor.

"Quake! What happened?" Optimus called out.

"It...it was incredible Optimus! Three of your soldiers attacked me, so Tankor called off the alliance but when he attacked Airazor, she regenerated and destroyed him! When it was over, I managed to regain control over the Vehicons." Quake answered.

"I don't know how I did it..." Airazor murmured.

"Airazor! Are you alright?" Tigatron asked.

"Fine, but I'm not completely sure what happened." Airazor replied.

"Well, we've won, the Vehicon Loyalists are retreating. What will you do now Quake?" Optimus asked.

Quake shrugged "I'm tired of war, I will take my fellow Vehicon Separatists and look for a safe place, one devoid of wars or violence. May we someday meet again in better circumstances."

Optimus placed a hand on Quake's shoulders "I hope that we do. Good luck Quake, I hope that you find what you're looking for."

* * *

In the Vehicon hidden base, Antagony, Thrust and Jetstorm were talking with each other.

"Well, now that we have that fool Megatron out of the way, what shall be the next stage of our plan?" Antagony asked.

"We wait for the reinforcements from the other parts of Cybertron to arrive" Thrust replied "The Maximals and Predacons may have destroyed the hundreds of Vehicons who resided in this area, but there are still billions all over the planet!"

"Yes, not to mention the fact that our little project is nearing completion!" Jetstorm said as he walked up to a blank protoforms "Now all that's left to do is to add the spark!"

The three laughed as they saw the four sparks lined up in containers, each one would play a significant part in their plans.

Rhinox.

Starscream.

Rampage.

Megatron.

* * *

End of chapter 26. Wow, that was pretty long hey? It's also the end of "season 2" We'll be moving on to season 3 next chapter! Exciting stuff eh? Well, what triggered the regeneration and power that Airazor demonstrated, what will become of the surviving Vehicon Separatists, and what is going on with the remaining Vehicon generals plans? These questions may be revealed next chapter, you'll just have to read it and see! Well, I hope that you enjoyed it, I'll try to have another update up soon. Don't forget to leave a review, and thanks for reading!


	27. The Savage Noble

Welcome, I sou you've arrived at yet another chapter of New Beast Wars. Once again, I do not own Beast Wars, Beast Machines, IDW comics or any characters that are associated with The Transformers. In the previous instalment, the Maximals and Predacons were all set to confront Megatron, only to find that he was seemingly dead, a gaping hole in his torso plate! Oh, and a whole bunch of other stuff happened too, but if you want to know exactly, what, then you'll have to read the last three chapters. Well, now that that...admittedly pathetic summary is out of the way, let's get on to the story, don't forget to leave a review. Thanks for reading!

* * *

Inside of the Decepticon Spire, the Maximals and their Predacon allies were repairing the damage done to the building and converting it into their new base of operations.

"How goes the work Snapper?" Optimus Primal asked the nearby Predacon, who was welding a section of the wall back in place.

"Good Optimus, I just wished that you and Scorponok did not do quite so much damage to this magnificent structure! Just look at it! A fine piece of ancient Constructicon architecture! Quite a sight I must say!" Snapper said wistfully, glancing down the hallways with wonder.

"Uh, yes well, some of it was the result of the fighting outside, stray shots and whatnot." Optimus replied, somewhat confused that a Predacon was showing appreciation for architecture.

"Excuse me, Optimus?" A voice called out.

Optimus turned around and saw the Maximal in charge of setting up the new base's defence systems, Armordillo. As Armordillo walked up towards Optimus, he noticed that Armordillo was carrying a number of blueprints.

"Yes Armordillo? What is it?" Optimus asked.

"Well sir, it's some of the traps already present in the base..." Armordillo replied, looking apprehensive.

"Yes, what about them?" Optimus asked wearily, already not liking where the conversation was headed.

"Well, it seems that several of our number have...fallen victim to them..." Armordillo said.

Optimus sighed and began massaging his forehead "Alright, who's stuck?" He asked.

"Uh, well...Transquito, Retrax, Snarl, Air Glider, B'boom, Bantor and Cheetor..." Armordillo replied.

"Well, are they in any danger?" Optimus asked.

"No sir, they're merely trapped in a large room. In fairness sir, I did warn them not to go into any rooms that were unmarked on the blueprints." Armordillo said with a shake of his head as he held up one of the blueprints he was carrying.

Optimus sighed again "Well, can we get them out?"

Once again, Armordillo shook his head "I'm afraid not sir, the doors separating the room are at least twelve inches thick, far too much for any of our explosives to penetrate."

"What about the explosives that B'boom stockpiled?" Optimus asked "Surely they'd be strong enough?"

"Possibly sir, but they run the risk of damaging those trapped inside, as well as the structural integrity of the building."

"Could we not simply deactivate the doors from the control room?"

"I believe not sir, Megatron has made it impossible to interface with the controls, so until we can hack the system's security measures, that's not an option."

"Well then, what do you propose we do?" Optimus asked.

"I suggest that a search team go out into the city to look for any blowtorches that may be lying around in the city, that way we can get the others out as quickly as possible." Armordillo suggested.

Snapper suddenly hovered over to the group using his rocket systems and carrying his own welding tool "What about this one?" Snapper asked.

Armordillo shook his head "Not powerful enough, we need a at least half a dozen industrial strength blowtorches.

"Alright then, Armordillo" Optimus said, motioning to him "I want you, Snapper, Rhinox, Vespid, Rattrap and the Pterosaur Squad to go out and search for the blowtorches, but be careful, we still don't know where the surviving Vehicon generals are." Optimus cautioned.

"Yes sir, we understand." Armordillo said, giving Optimus a salute.

"Oh finally! A field mission! I had better go and get my weaponry!" Snapper said a way that was both demented and gleeful as he rubbed his hands together.

* * *

Later, the search party had been assembled and were patrolling the streets of Cybertron.

"Rawk! This is ridiculously slow!" Terrorsaur complained "This would be going so much faster if we were to split up!"

Rhinox sighed "Terrorsaur, if we were to do that, then we'd be leaving ourselves open to an ambush from the remaining Vehicons, and that's something that I'd rather not go through twice."Rhinox said as he recalled his time inside of a Vehicon torture chamber.

"Oh come on Rhinox, those guys are finished! Besides, with our abilities, we could beat any Vehicon who comes our way!" Vespid said, flying along in jet mode.

"Perhaps Vespid but I would rather not chance it." Rhinox said.

"Yeah, besides, why would ya wanna go out there on yer own?" Rattrap asked.

"Well, I wouldn't mind working alongside you Rattrap, you did save my life after all." Vespid said.

"Yeesh, don't remind me!" Rattrap said with a grimace, ever since then, Vespid seemed to have developed some kind of hero worship to him.

"Humph! You guys can stick together if you want, but we're splitting up! Come on Pterosaur Squad!" Terrorsaur commanded as he suddenly turned and flew off.

"Wait for Waspinator!" Waspinator cried out as he struggled to keep up with Terrorsaur, Fractyl and Lazorbeak.

"Wait, come back!" Rhinox called out "We don't know what's out there!"

"Argh! Stupid Preds! Oh, uh, no offence guys." Rattrap apologised, turning to Vespid and Snapper, who had remained behind.

"None taken Rattrap sir!" Vespid replied.

"Don't call me sir!" Rattrap snapped.

"Hmmm, a "stupid Pred" eh?" Snapper asked, a glare on his face "Would you think me so stupid if I were to blow you to scrap for that little remark?"

"Uh...Vespid, help!" Rattrap cried out.

"Vespid, Terrorize!" Vespid cried out, returning to robot mode "Don't threaten my friend!" Vespid said, jabbing his finger at Snapper.

In response, Snapper snarled "Friend? You're friends with a Maximal? Treacherous scum!" Snapper spat.

"Enough!" Rhinox exclaimed, brandishing his sword in one hand and one of his mini guns in the other "We are allies now! We'll never get anything done through fighting with each other!"

"Rhinox is right, we must learn to work together." Armordillo said calmly.

Snapper scowled "Fine, I'll back down, but only until I lose sight of Rhinox and his giant weapons, then, you're mine rat!"

"Just try it Snapper!" Vespid said, glaring at his comrade.

Suddenly, a loud explosion rang out.

"What was that?" Rattrap asked, whirling around to locate the source of the noise.

"I don't know, but I think that we should go and find out!" Snapper said as he rocketed towards the sound of the noise using his thrusters.

"Snapper, wait! That explosion could be anything! Don't rush into an unknown situation!" Rhinox called out.

* * *

Not far away, the group had come to a bombed out building. If Insecticon had been there, he might have recognised it as the same building that he, Scarem and the staff toting Scourge had taken refuge in when they had been forced to flee their old base. Now, it looked even worse than before, large scorch marks lined the building, and even more sections of wall had fallen off.

"What happened here?" Snapper asked.

Armordillo walked up to a wall to inspect the damage "Hmmm, still warm...these blast marks are recent, whatever did this can't be far away."

"Yeah but, who or what did this? And why?" Rattrap asked.

"Maybe the Vehicons found some survivors?" Snapper offered.

"Well, possibly, but-" Armordillo began, only to be cut off by the sounds of weapons cocking.

All present turned to look behind them, and came face to face with Thrust, Jetstorm and Antagony.

"Maximals! I see you came back to finish the job!" Jetstorm exclaimed.

"What? What are you talking about motor-head?" Snapper asked.

"Don't play dumb with me shell face! You attacked us!" Jetstorm snapped.

"I assure you, none of us attacked you, and we weren't even looking for you." Armordillo said in a soothing voice, trying to calm the Vehicons.

"Oh yeah, then who did?" Antagony asked.

As if in response, a loud roar was heard.

"Uh...maybe that?" Vespid asked.

"But what was it?" Rhinox asked.

"Uh...don't look now, but I think that's behind you guys!" Rattrap shouted, pointing behind the Vehicons.

Under normal circumstances, the Vehicons wouldn't have left themselves open to attack by turning, but something in Rattrap's voice persuaded them to turn. When they looked, they gasped. Standing behind them was a creature which looked as if it had come from a nightmare. It was large, red and scaly, had wings, fangs, razor sharp claws and a long tail. Smoke poured from its nostrils and fire gleamed in its eyes.

"Please tell me that that thing ain't a dragon." Rattrap pleaded, looking at the creature in horror.

"I think it is." Armordillo said, stunned at the sight.

"Should we...should we run now?" Vespid asked.

"Oh yes, let's!" Snapper said, before he activated the jet engines beneath his shell and flew off at a high speed.

The sudden movement only alerted the dragon, who roared again and charged at the group.

"Run away!" Thrust screamed as he transformed into a motorcycle and drove off.

The others soon followed suite, the others all transforming into their beast modes, except for Antagony, who flew using her thrusters, and Jetstorm, who could fly in robot mod anyway.

"What the hell is that thing and why the hell is it after us?" Vespid cried out as he flew while in beast mode.

"Don't ask me, I'm just as confused as you are!" Thrust cried out as he barrelled down the streets of Cybertron.

"Well you must have done something to antagonise it!" Armordillo said as rode on Rhinox's back.

"Nope! Nothing, so stop asking and keep running!" Jetstorm said as he flew alongside Antagony.

"We can't keep running forever!" Armordillo said "Surely within that creature is a mind that is capable of rational thought! If we could reach it, then perhaps we could get it to stop!"

"Yeah, good luck with that!" Snapper snorted.

"No, he's right, we must at least try!" Rhinox said as he skidded to a halt and turned to face the massive beast that was charging towards them.

"Hey, if you Maximals wanna play therapist with that thing, that's fine with me, but don't expect us to help you!" Antagony said as she flew past.

"My thoughts exactly!" Jetstorm cried out as he breezed past "Wait for me my dear!"

"Should we go after them, or, you know, at least try to stop them?" Vespid asked.

Armordillo shook his head "If they wish to leave, then let them, I would not force anyone to face this beast if they did not want to."

"So what you're sayin' is...you wouldn't mind if I was ta, flee?" Rattrap asked.

"Correct Rattrap, you may leave if you so wish, I will bear you no ill will." Armordillo responded, eyes still on the dragon, which had since slowed down.

"Alright! I'm outta here!" Rattrap exclaimed joyously as he sped off.

"Wait for me! If you're going, then so am I!" Vespid cried out as he flew after his idol.

Snapper scowled "Cowards." He spat in disgust.

The dragon meanwhile, had come to a halt in front of the three remaining soldiers and was now staring them down. Armordillo slowly stepped forward to face the beast.

"Please, do not be afraid, we mean you no harm, we only wish to help you." Armordillo said in the most soothing voice that he could manage.

In response, the beast took in a deep breath and shot out a fireball. All three of them managed to leap to safety and the fireball sailed harmlessly overhead.

"Diplomacy failed, time to shoot!" Snapper said as he raised his weapon.

"No!" Armordillo cried as he threw himself at the vicious Predacon "We must not give up on it! It may still be redeemed!"

Suddenly, a loud droning noise was heard, the three all turned to look for the source of the noise and saw Antagony, Thrust and Jetstorm racing towards them.

"Oh Savage! Why don't you have a taste of this?" Jetstorm said in a demented voice as he opened fire, an act which Antagony and Thrust mimicked.

"No! Leave it be!" Armordillo cried out as the beast's hide was hit by the shots.

However, the shots seemed to bounce off the dragon ineffectually. Now it seemed enraged, and spat out another fireball, this time aiming for Jetstorm.

"Argh!" Jetstorm cried out as he was hit, crashing into Antagony and sending them both spiralling into Rhinox.

"Oof!" Rhinox gasped as the two Vehicons landed on him.

"Jetstorm!" Thrust cried out "Nobody does that to my best friend! Prepare to be made into a handbag my scaly friend!"

Thrust charged at the dragon at top speed, guns blazing...and was promptly swatted aside with a sudden tail sweep.

"Ahhhh!" Thrust yelled as he was sent hurtling into the air by the counterattack.

"Well, it looks like it's just you and me now Maximal!" Snapper said, turning to Armordillo.

"Then we may have a problem." Armordillo said.

Suddenly, the dragon howled in pain. It quickly turned around and began flapping its wings, before lifting off.

"Hey! Get back here ya coward!" Snapper yelled, firing his weapon into the air.

"Quick, we must follow it so that it doesn't hurt itself!" Armordillo exclaimed.

"Hurt itself?" Snapper echoed "Yeah right! That thing's a scaly tank! No way is it going to hurt itself!"

"Nevertheless, we must pursue it!" Armordillo replied.

"Oh yeah, now you're talking! And when we find it..." Snapper moved one of his claws in front of his throat and made the appropriate noise.

"No! We're trying to save this creature, not destroy it!" Armordillo exclaimed.

"Aw, you're no fun!" Snapper teased, before flying after the dragon "Here Savage, Savage, Savage!" He called out.

"Savage?" Armordillo asked.

"Sure, why not? It's what Jetstorm called it." Snapper replied.

"Oh...very well then..." Armordillo said with a sigh.

* * *

The two wandered the streets of Cybertron, searching for the beast.

"Savage? Were are you?" Snapper called out.

"We mean you no harm!" Armordillo shouted.

"Well, maybe you don't..." Snapper said, a mischievous grin on his face.

"Don't hurt it! It may just be a simple beast, scared and confused!" Armordillo pleaded.

Snapper snorted "Scared my foot! Did you see the way that that thing took out Thrust! That ain't no scared beast!"

"It is nothing more than an animal in a strange, new environment, it is disoriented and confused, and therefore, must be treated with pity and compassion." Armordillo replied

"Aw, that is the biggest load of bullshi-!" Snapper began, before being cut off.

"Sssh!" Armordillo hissed "Do you hear that?"

Snapper listened, he could suddenly hear a low groaning noise.

"Yeah! And it sounded like it came from over there!" Snapper said, rushing to get to the source.

"Wait! Mercy and compassion!" Armordillo cried out, hurrying to keep up with the turbo charged Predacon.

"Aw, mercy is for wussies!" Snapper exclaimed, and then stopped when he rounded a corner.

"What? What do you see?" Armordillo asked, then gasped at what he saw.

The dragon was writhing on the ground in obvious pain. Smoke was pouring from its nostrils and flecks of spittle were flying out of its mouth.

"It looks to be in pain!" Armordillo gasped in horror.

"Well then, I got a remedy for that!" Snapper said, a grin on his face as he raised his weapon.

Suddenly, the dragon turned to face the pair.

"H-help me!" The dragon said weakly.

Snapper and Armordillo looked at the dragon in horror.

"It's sapient!" Armordillo exclaimed in shock.

The dragon began writhing for a few more moments, before becoming still.

"Is it dead?" Snapper asked, cautiously approaching it.

Suddenly, the beast began to convulse.

"What in tarnation?" Snapper asked, jumping back.

"It's...it's transforming!" Armordillo exclaimed.

And indeed it was, but instead of going to robot mode, the dragon converted into a second beast mode, a mode not unlike some kind of wolf, but with larger claws, blue fur and large, powerful hind legs.

"Heck! It looks like one of them Mutants that we left back on Earth!" Snapper said.

Armordillo nodded, he remembered the Mutants, strange fusions of beast and machine, apparently failed experiments of Megatron who had fled into the swamps. Instead of a beast mode and a robot mode, they only had two separate beast modes. Clearly this poor creature was something similar.

When the transformation was over, the wolf gasped and stood shakily on its feet.

"Are you all right?" Armordillo asked, walking up to it.

"Stay back! He could return at any moment!" The wolf warned.

"Who could?" Armordillo asked.

"That thing that you saw! That dragon!" The wolf cried.

"You mean, you are not the same being?" Snapper asked.

"No, we are very different. He wants to destroy everything! He won't stop until there's nothing left!" The wolf replied, taking two steps back.

"Please, we only want to help you, what is your name?" Armordillo asked, slowly walking up to the wolf.

"My...my name? You may call me Noble...but I fear that there is nothing noble about me, I m a monster!" The wolf replied.

"Noble...how did you come to be this way?"

"I...I was here on Cybertron, when suddenly, these strange transformers attacked me! They were neither Maximal nor Predacon! They...they took me to a factory with others. Sometimes, they took some of us, we never saw them again...one day, they came for me, and I feared that my life was over, but they took me to some strange laboratory, and they did...things to me! Horrible things! When I came to, I wasn't me anymore, I was that thing! I smashed my way free and ran! I wanted to be safe! To be free! But they followed me, they attacked me, and that monster took over again! All he wants to do is to kill!" Noble despaired.

"Sssh, it's all right, we'll do everything we can for you, don't worry." Armordillo soothed.

Snapper rolled his eyes "Oh brother! Another sob story! You'll fit right in with the rest of us!"

"You...you would have me?" Noble asked.

"Of course, you are a refugee, we will help you, we will do everything that we can for you." Armordillo replied, a smile on his face.

"T...thank you, I owe you a great debt." Noble said, bowing his head.

* * *

Later, Armordillo, Noble and Thrust met up with the others.

"Rawk! Alright, while you guys were out lounging around, we found the blowtorches!" Terrorsaur said, not noticing the newest arrival.

Fractyl however, had "Hey, who's the newbie?"

"Noble...my name is Noble..."

* * *

And end of chapter 27. Well, I've introduced another new character...sort of, if you've ever seen Beast Machines, then you may just recognise this character. Savage/Noble will feature in the next chapter, so fans of his can look forward to that. I hope that you enjoyed the latest chapter, and I would like to remind you to leave a review. Also, for any Star Wars fans out there, I've written a new story called _Unexpected Places,_ a serious fic about a high ranking Imperial who decided to betray his emperor, so if it sounds interesting to you, don't forget to check it out. Well, I have nothing else to say except for this: Thanks for reading!


	28. More New Arrivals

Hello my friends, and welcome to yet another instalment of New Beast Wars, chapter 28. As usual, I must admit that I do not own Beast Wars, Beast Machines, IDW Comics or any characters that are associated with The Transformers. Last chapter, the vicious Snapper and the peaceful Armordillo came across the tortured soul Noble, who was plagued by a separate entity within his body who wished to destroy everything around him. They decided to help him and brought him back to base. Summary aside, I would like to ask you to please enjoy the story, and to remember to review when you're done, thanks for reading!

* * *

Inside of the Decepticon Spire, which was serving as the new base for the Maximals and Predacons, Rhinox was inspecting Airazor. Ever since Airazor had destroyed Tankor with some mysterious new weapon, everyone had been curious as to what had caused it. Now, Rhinox believed that he had the answer. Assembled with him were Tigatron, Optimus Primal, Cheetor, Noble, Snapper, Vespid, Vice Grip and Blackarachnia.

"Well Rhinox, have you discovered what caused the activation of that super weapon?" Optimus Primal asked.

"I believe that I have Optimus, but I think you'll be surprised to say the least." Rhinox replied.

"Well, spill it Rhinox, what happened?" Cheetor asked.

"It would seem that the weapon that Airazor used to destroy Tankor was actually residual energy from an alien life form, the very same alien life forms that we encountered on prehistoric Earth." Rhinox explained.

Airazor was understandably shocked "What? But...how is that possible Rhinox?" Airazor asked.

"When the aliens abducted Tigatron and Airazor, they fused their sparks to create a new being, Tigerhawk. However, they may have unwittingly infused portions of themselves into Tigerhawk, which would explain his phenomenal power. However, when Tigerhawk was destroyed, Airazor and Tigatron's sparks separated and drifted back to Earth, where they found new bodies. When they took control over these new bodies, they were powered by the energy gained from the aliens. When Airazor was attacked by Tankor, this energy was released and manifested in a self defence mechanism which destroyed Tankor." Rhinox answered.

"I-incredible!" Optimus exclaimed, a look of wonder on his face "You figured this out all from trace amounts of residual energy?" Optimus asked.

In response Rhinox shrugged "I'm a scientist, it's my job to find things out."

Suddenly, Rattrap, Dinobot and Silverbolt burst into the room.

Optimus glared at them "You're late. Any of you care to explain why?" Optimus asked coldly.

"Eh, sorry we're late Optimus, we had some...uh, important business to take care of." Rattrap explained.

Blackarachnia glowered at them, Silverbolt in particular "You mean you were playing poker, don't you?" Blackarachnia asked.

Dinobot looked away, and Rattrap cleared his throat, before nervously glancing at Silverbolt, who seemed to be highly anxious. Blackarachnia increased the intensity of her glower.

"Er...yes my love." Silverbolt admitted, lowering his head in shame.

"Silverbolt ya idiot! What'd ya go and do that for!" Rattrap admonished, hitting Silverbolt on the back of his head with the palm of his hand.

"Sorry Rattrap but when Blackarachnia glowers, it means that I'll be in trouble later." Silverbolt exclaimed.

"Oh, you're still in trouble, I'm just waiting until we're alone, then no one will hear your screams." Blackarachnia said.

"Eep." Silverbolt muttered.

Dinobot suddenly sniffed the air "Strange, I sense a foreign presence, yet also a familiar one..."

Optimus stepped forward "Well, the new presence may be our newest recruit, Noble here..."

Noble stepped forward "Hello, look forward to fighting alongside you in order to liberate Cybertron." Noble said, before holding out his hand.

Dinobot glanced at it briefly, before turning to Optimus "And the other?" Dinobot asked.

"Well, that's a little more difficult...perhaps the traces alien life form that reside within Airazor?" Optimus offered.

"And possibly Tigatron, let's not forget, he was the other half of Tigerhawk." Rhinox added.

"Alien...life form?" Dinobot asked.

"Oh right, you weren't here for that...uh, well, as it turns out, Airazor's spark hold trace amounts of energy leftover from the alien life forms that abducted her and Tigatron." Optimus explained.

Dinobot shrugged "Then that may be the other presence, but why have I not sensed it before?"

"Hey, sensing things is my game!" Cheetor said, walking up to Dinobot "In case you've forgotten, I'm the one with the prophetic dreams."

"Hmm, then why do I feel so strongly about this?" Dinobot asked, puzzled.

"Eh, all Transmetal IIs have some kind of psychic ability, maybe yours is sensing things." Blackarachnia said with a shrug.

Suddenly, alarms began blaring all over the base.

"What's happening Rhinox?" Optimus asked.

"It's a proximity alert! A ship is coming within range of Cybertron!" Rhinox exclaimed.

"A ship, but why?"

"I don't know Optimus, but with any luck, they'll be able to help us round up and detain the Vehicon generals." Rhinox said.

Optimus gasped "But what about the laser defence grid? If a ship comes within range, then it'll be cut to shreds!"

Rhinox paled "We'll have to warn the ship away, and then deactivate the grid."

"Uh uh, that's a no go Rhinox, the communications dish was damaged during the battle here, it's useless!" Cheetor explained.

Rhinox cursed "Then we'll just have to deactivate it! I'll need Fractyl, B'boom and Packrat to help me with that."

Cheetor shook his head "Packrat's not here, no one's seen him since he stormed off after we beat Jetstorm and Antagony!"

Rhinox groaned "Then we'll have to make do with just Fractyl and B'boom!"

Manterror and Iguanus suddenly burst in.

"Sir! We've just received reports that Polar Claw and Bonecrusher have been sighed, but they're surrounded by Vehicons!" Iguanus burst out.

Optimus cursed "Can this day get any more frantic? Alright, Iguanus, Manterror, you take Blackarachnia, Noble, Vice Grip and Silverbolt and rescue Bonecrusher and Polar Claw! Cheetor, you, Rattrap, Vespid and Dinobot go hunt down Fractyl and B'boom! Fractyl's probably with Terrorsaur and his little gang, and B'boom's probably out in the firing range!" Optimus ordered.

"What should we do Optimus?" Tigatron asked.

Optimus thought for a moment, before replying "See if you can fix the communications systems, get Stink Bomb, Snarl, Snapper and Armordillo, this sort of thing is usually their forte."

"At once sir!" Airazor said, giving Optimus a salute before she and Tigatron rushed off.

Now alone, Optimus sighed and said to himself "Now all we can do is pray to Primus that nothing goes wrong."

* * *

Outside, Manterror, Iguanus, Blackarachnia, Noble, Vice Grip and Silverbolt were racing to get to Polar Claw and Bonecrusher before they were overwhelmed by the Vehicon forces.

"Are we sure that we're needed?" Vice Grip asked "I mean, I've seen Polar Claw and Bonecrusher, hell I've fought Polar Claw and Bonecrusher, and believe me, they don't seem like the type who need help!"

"No matter how strong they are, not even they could stand up to hundreds of Vehicon drones!" Iguanus said, as he ran at full speed.

"True, I've seen people try and fight off the Vehicons, no matter how many people were up against them, no matter what weapons they used, the Vehicons always came back in greater numbers...it's how they captured me." Noble said, joining in on the conversation.

Blackarachnia, skittering along in beast mode, frowned before turning to Silverbolt "Hey! Silverbolt!"

"Yes my love?" Silverbolt asked, turning to face his beloved Blackarachnia.

"Are you getting a weird feeling about this new guy?" Blackarachnia asked.

Silverbolt blinked "Noble? Do you mean jealousy? Fear not my love, I would never suspect you of liking him over me!"

"Not jealousy you dolt! I mean suspicion!" Blackarachnia hissed.

"Suspicion? But why?" Silverbolt asked.

"Because he just shows up out of nowhere with some weird story about the Vehicons experimenting on him! Plus, he attacked Rhinox and Armordillo!" Blackarachnia explained.

"Well yes, but he also attacked the Vehicons, and he did say that he had no control over his alternate mode, he said that it had its own separate personality. Anyway, we have no reason to disbelieve his story." Silverbolt replied.

"You really are gullible Silverbolt." Blackarachnia muttered "We also have no reason _to _believe his story!"

The arguing would have continued, had it not been for the sudden loud explosion which rocked the ground.

"What was that?" Manterror asked.

"Hmmm, I don't know, maybe a pair of Maximals fighting off a horde of angry Vehicons? Could that be it?" Iguanus snapped.

"Now, now fellows, let's simmer down and save the fighting for the enemies!" Vice Grip said.

"My thoughts exactly! I'll make those Vehicons pay for what they did to me!" Noble said as he brandished his claws menacingly.

"See? One minute he's this cowering wreck, the next, he's some action hero! What part of this doesn't strike you as strange Silverbolt?" Blackarachnia hissed.

"I-Whoa!" Silverbolt exclaimed, as he flew to the left to avoid a shell, which barely missed him.

Standing in the middle of the streets of Cybertron were Polar Claw and Bonecrusher, standing amidst the corpses of dozens of Tank drones. However, even more were coming at them, and they were being lead by a familiar face.

"Scorponok! You're still alive?" Blackarachnia asked in mock surprise.

"That's right, I'm still alive and fighting for lord Megatron! And I'll make sure that you all suffer!" Scorponok snarled, as he fired a shot at Blackarachnia.

Blackarachnia instinctively ducked "Well, I hate to tell you this again Scorponok, but Megatron's dead, for real this time!" Blackarachnia taunted.

Scorponok roared "Shut up! Shut up! The glory that is Megatron can never be extinguished! I shall continue to fight in his name!"

"Yeah? Well good luck with that traitor!" Vice Grip said as he fired an EMP blast from his claw cannon.

Scorponok dodged it and retaliated "Ha! Is that the best that you weak fools can do?"

"No, but this is!" Bonecrusher said, before he fired a missile from his mouth, aimed straight for Scorponok.

"Argh!" Scorponok cried out as the blast sent him flying "Just you wait, I'll get you back for that!"

"Just come over here and try it!" Polar Claw said as he brandished his claws and bared his fangs.

"Uh, no need. Tank drones, attack!" Scorponok commanded, sending his forces charging towards the Maximals and Predacons.

"Oh, he thinks he can beat us, how quaint. Maximals, charge!" Polar Claw ordered, before rushing to meet the oncoming horde.

"Predacons, roll out!" Vice Grip cried as he launched himself at the nearest Tank drone.

* * *

Inside of the Decepticon Spire, Rhinox, Fractyl and B'boom were working hard to deactivate the orbital laser grid which would destroy the newcomer. Suddenly, the group heard a ping.

"Hey, we got something here!" Fractyl exclaimed, believing that they had succeeded.

"Wait, I think that that was the radar." B'boom said.

The three looked up to catch a glance at the radar. When they did, they gasped in surprise.

There was not one ship, but two.

"Alright, we'll have to act fast, at least two lives hang in the balance here!" Rhinox said, before he quickly got back to work.

Fractyl and B'boom soon followed suite, hoping to save the two ships from horrible demises.

* * *

Back at the battle sight, the battle was going well for the Maximals and Predacons. Despite the incredible number of Tank drones, they were no match for the more intelligent Maximals and Predacons, who were using clever tactics to defeat their opponents.

"Ha ha! We got these Vehicon scum now men!" Bonecrusher said as he plowed through the Vehicon masses.

"Indeed, we are making short work of them!" Vice Grip said, as he deactivated yet another Tank drone with a blast from his claw cannon.

Iguanus was rapidly firing at the Vehicons, downing a number of them, despite the relative weakness of his weaponry when compared to that of the Vehicons. Manterror meanwhile, had since converted into beast mode, and was now using his mantis claws to rip his enemies apart. Polar Claw was mauling his victims in polar bear mode, using his massive claws and powerful swipes to easily decimate the Vehicon forces. Blackarachnia and Silverbolt were working together to bring down their opponents, Blackarachnia would web them up, and Silverbolt would put them down with a couple of feather missiles. Perhaps not surprisingly, Blackarachnia was keeping a close eye on Noble, who was busy ripping the Vehicons throat's out with his powerful jaws.

"Blackarachnia? It's starting to become creepy just how much you're staring at Noble." Silverbolt said nervously.

"I'm not staring, I'm just making sure that he doesn't stab us in the back!" Blackarachnia retorted as she webbed up yet another Tank drone.

"Take that!" Noble cried out as he slashed one particularly unfortunate Vehicon "And have some of this!"

Suddenly, a shot rang out, everyone turned to look and saw Scorponok standing with his shoulder mounted laser out.

"Got im'!" Scorponok said smugly.

Everyone turned to see where Scorponok's weapon was pointing, and all of them saw the smoking wound in Noble's arm.

"What? You call that a shot? You barely even scratched him!" Manterror exclaimed.

"Shame." Blackarachnia muttered under her breath.

Noble suddenly started growling, his eyes rolled back in his head, and he suddenly started foaming at the mouth.

"What? What's happening?" Iguanus asked as Noble began convulsing.

"I think he's transforming!" Vice Grip exclaimed.

"Transforming? Oh no! Everyone, run!" Blackarachnia yelled as she turned to flee.

"Flee? Not a chance in hell!" Bonecrusher said.

"Yeah, fleeing is for cowards!" Polar Claw added.

And then Noble finished his transition from Noble to Savage.

"Although...perhaps a tactical retreat is in order." Bonecrusher said, staring at the beast in front of him.

Polar Claw growled "Oh fine! But next time, we stay and fight!"

Scorponok was confounded "Hey! Where are you going! It's only a big lizard! Argh, we can take him, Tank drones, attack!"

And with that, Scorponok's Tank drones charged Savage. The fight did not last long, all Savage had to do was breath out, and the drone's were incinerated.

"Hey! No one does that to my drones! Vehicle mode!" Scorponok exclaimed, turning into his tank form and opening fire on Savage.

Savage roared and lumbered up to Scorponok, before hitting him with his tail.

"Oof! Trying to crush me eh? Well it's not going to work!" Scorponok said as he opened fire again, this time with his smaller weapons.

In response, Savage roared once again, before lifting off, picking Scorponok up in one his massive claws, and flinging him away.

"Ahhhh!" Scorponok screamed as he went sailing over the horizon.

Now that Scorponok and his friends were out of the way, Savage turned and focused his attention on the Maximals and the Predacons.

"Uh oh..." Iguanus muttered, before turning to flee with the others.

"This is crazy! We'll never outrun him!" Vice Grip exclaimed.

"Speak for yourself." Bonecrusher muttered, in beast mode, a strong and large, but still fast bison.

"I bet he did that on purpose!" Blackarachnia said as she ran.

"Blackarachnia, he has no control over this!" Silverbolt said while flying alongside her.

"Sure, maybe that's just what he wants us to think!" Blackarachnia retorted.

"Pssst! Over here!" A voice called out.

The group turned and saw Scavenger, his head poking out from a small tunnel.

"Scavenger! We haven't seen you since those Vehicons found our base!" Vice Grip exclaimed.

"Yeah, I know, I've been hiding in a tunnel system that I made, but never mind that now, you're being chased, I'm saving you, so get in the tunnel!" Scavenger cried out.

The others needed no further incentive, and they all dived headfirst into the hole that Scavenger had constructed.

"We can wait it out in here." Manterror muttered as above them, Savage roared in frustration at losing his next meal.

"Duh bug brain that was the plan." Iguanus said, rolling his optics.

* * *

In the Decepticon Spire, Rhinox, Fractyl and B'boom were almost done shutting down the orbital laser defence grid. They didn't have a moment to spare, the ships were almost at Cybertron.

"Almost...just a little more...there!" Rhinox exclaimed, as he finally managed to deactivate the grid.

"And not a moment too soon, look!" Fractyl pointed out.

All present turned to look at the screen, and saw the ships enter the atmosphere of Cybertron.

"Well, that's that taken care of, now to-" B'boom began, before the radar pinged again.

"Look!" Rhinox gasped, pointing at the screen.

Coming out of transwarp space, were four large carrier ships.

"Switch to teledar!" B'boom ordered, and Fractyl complied.

Instantly, an image popped up on screen. Coming towards Cybertron were four large ships, all of them bearing the Vehicon insignia.

"Transports! They must be bringing in reinforcements!" Fractyl exclaimed.

"Not if I can help it." B'boom said darkly, as he reactivated the laser grid.

Instantly, the ships were sliced into sections by the grid, destroying them and sending their remains plummeting towards Cybertron.

"Good riddance!" Fractyl said.

"Hmmm, now we need to find those ships..." Rhinox said.

* * *

Later, Rattrap, Optimus, Rattrap, Vespid and Airazor were making their way towards the ship furthest from the Decepticon Spire. When they spotted it, they were surprised by what they saw. It was only a small ship barely more than a shuttle, and it bore the Maximal insignia. Suddenly, a burst of steam shot out of the entrance of the shuttle, and a ramp extended.

"Move back everyone! Someone's coming out!" Optimus commanded.

A lone figure stepped out onto the ramp and surveyed the scene. Suddenly, he stopped and stared at Cheetor.

"Rider? Is that you?" The figure asked.

Cheetor gasped "Cataclysm?"

* * *

End of chapter 28. Well, that was interesting, wasn't it? Who exactly is Cataclysm, and why did he call Cheetor Rider? And what will become of those trapped by Savage's wrath? And what about the second ship? Well, I answered the question of how Airazor killed Tankor, I hope it didn't disappoint. Anyway, I can't keep prattling on, so I'll leave you on this note. Thanks for reading!


	29. Cataclysm

Greeting, and welcome to yet another instalment of a little fic that I like to call, New Beast Wars, chapter 29. Once again, I am obligated by law to inform you that I do not own Beast Wars, Beast Machines (thank God for that!), IDW Comics or any of the characters that are associated with The Transformers...but you knew that anyway, didn't you? Anyway, last chapter, Savage showed up, beat the crud out of Scorponok and is tank drones and then turned his sights on the Maximals and Predacons! Luckily for them, they were rescue by Scavenger. Meanwhile, Rhinox had to work frantically to disable the orbiting laser defence grid that encompassed Cybertron in order to save the lives of the crews of two unknown ships. However, four new ships arrived soon after, Vehicon ships. Although they were dealt with, the Maximals and Predacons now have to face the two new ships. Are they friend or foe? And what about the passenger who called Cheetor Rider? All these questions will be answered...now, thanks for reading, and don't forget to review!

* * *

"Cataclysm?" Cheetor gasped.

"Y-yes, it is! By Primus Rider, what happened to you?" The figure asked as he walked down the ramp of his ship.

Physically, the figure greatly resembled the Transmetal version of Cheetor, except that he was mainly red, except for his appendages, which were silver, green below his knees.

"What happened to me? What happened to you?" Cheetor asked.

"I was on my way back from Cybertron, I was coming back from Laplis, where my exploration team was, when this quantum surge hits my ship and mutates me! What about you?" The figure asked.

Cheetor rolled his optics "Long story, involves time travel and alien mutation devices!" Cheetor replied.

"Time travel?" The figure shuddered "I hate time travel, why I hate using transwarp!"

"Ahem!" Optimus interjected "Cheetor, do you think you can explain what's going on here? Who is he, and how do you two know each other?" Optimus asked.

"Him? Oh, he used to be my best friend back when we were kids! Back before the Beast Wars, when my name was Rider, not Cheetor. We grew up together, we even joined the same academy, then, we graduated and got assigned to different exploration groups." Cheetor explained.

"Wow, that story was amazing...you're name was Rider?" Vespid asked.

Cheetor sighed "Yes, my name was Rider."

Vespid chuckled.

"Anyway, Cataclysm, what are you doing here?" Cheetor asked, turning back to his old friend.

"When I heard what happened to Cybertron, I had to do something, so I stole a shuttle and came here." Cataclysm said.

"Uh...by yourself?" Rattrap asked.

Cataclysm rubbed the back of his head and gave a sheepish grin "Uh, yeah, maybe not the best of plans...but you guys are here! Maybe I can help you!" Cataclysm exclaimed.

"Well, we need all we can get, luckily, most of the fighting's over, we just need to round up the remaining Vehicons." Optimus told the young Maximal.

Cataclysm blinked "Huh? Rounding up? Don't tell me I missed all the action!"

Cheetor shrugged "Sorry pal, you arrived just a little too late! Maybe next time!"

Cataclysm scowled "Great, just great, I'm probably going to get court martialled for stealing this shuttle too!"

"Hey, cheer up! There's still some fighting left to do!" Cheetor said, slapping Cataclysm on the back.

The group suddenly heard a loud explosion.

"And it looks like you're about to do some Cataclysm. Maximals, transform and roll out!" Optimus commanded, as his soldiers transformed into beast mode and rushed towards the sound of the noise.

* * *

Elsewhere, Magmatron, Razorbeast, the Pterosaur Squad and the New Insecticons were making their way to the second ship that had recently touched down.

"Look, there it is!" Scarem exclaimed as they approached the ship,

It was clearly a military ship, as it was bristling with weaponry. Not only that, but it bore a Predacon symbol on the side, so there was little doubt as to who owned it. It also seemed to have been damaged somehow, as blaster scoring adorned the sides and thrusters.

"What do you suppose happened to it?" Insecticon asked as he scratched his forehead in puzzlement.

"Maybe it got into a fight with one of them carrier ships that Rhinox mentioned?" Lazorbeak offered.

"Maybe...or maybe the driver got into a fight with a meteor shower!" Scourge snickered as he hobbled over, carrying his staff.

Insecticon gave him a sidelong glance "Why in the hell are you still carrying that thing?" He asked.

Suddenly, the entrance to the ship hissed, and a ramp began extending.

"Rawk! Never mind that now, we got company!" Terrorsaur exclaimed.

The door to the ship slid open and a tall figure strode out and down the ramp. The figure had the head of an ick-yak resting on its chest, its tail replaced the figure's left arm, two extra pairs of arms on its back, clawed feet, and a helmeted head with six horns, three on either side of its head. The figure's body was mainly was mainly red, silver and bronze, with the exception of the ick-yak portions of its body, which were light pink.

"W-who are you?" Fractyl asked hesitantly.

The figure turned and stared at Fractyl "I am commander Control of the Predacon V, and you would do well to address me in the correct manor soldier!" The soldier commanded, glaring at Fractyl, who flinched in response to the icy reception.

"Y-yes sir!" Fractyl squeaked.

"Hey, nobody orders my men around!" Terrorsaur protested, stepping forward.

In response, Control turned and glared at Terrorsaur, who yelped in fright. Magmatron suddenly stepped forward, pushing Terrorsaur to the side.

"You said you were a commander of the Predacon V, that would be the original five Predacons, yes?" Magmatron asked.

Control nodded "That is correct, I serve the original five Predacons, and I have been sent here to detain the Tripredacus agents, Antagony, Iguanus, Manterror, Drill Bit, Spittor, Transquito and Magmatron."

Magmatron stepped back "What? Why am I under arrest? I no longer serve the Tripredacus council" Magmatron exclaimed.

"Perhaps you do, perhaps you don't, the point is, you _did _serve them at one point, and that would make you an accomplice to all this!" Control accused, jabbing a finger at Magmatron.

"To wha-? Are you implying that I'm somehow involved in the taking of Cybertron?" Magmatron asked, his eyes narrowing.

"Indeed, we've captured one of their agents, who, like you, claims to no longer serve the council. He admitted that the Tripredacus Council was behind the whole thing! They planted control devices in the corpses of Maximals and Predacons, then reformatted them into new bodies, which they used to conquer Cybertron!" Control said, glaring at Magmatron.

"I left long before that plan was ever put into motion, maybe even before it was conceived! And which agent did you capture? Because that decrepit fool Flamewar would say anything!" Magmatron asked.

"Actually..." Control trailed off, before snapping his fingers.

Suddenly, the group could hear muttering and cursing as a second figure from within the ship walked down the ramp. He was covered in energon chains, and clearly hating the entire situation.

Magmatron gasped "Onyx Primal!"

The figure stopped cursing and looked up "Oh, great! First I get captured by this creep trying to warn the Maximals of what the council is up to, and now I'm going to be executed by one of Cicadacon's lackeys!" Onyx Primal spat.

Control scowled, before jerking Onyx's chains "Hold your tongue worm! You will not be speaking to anyone, spreading your lies!"

Onyx's turned to face Control "But I'm telling you, I'm innocent! I have no reason to serve those Tripredacus fools, not after that little "altercation"." Primal muttered.

"What altercation?" Magmatron asked.

Onyx sighed "I...I got into a little fight with Cub, long story short, I killed him, the council wasn't too happy about me killing one of their star pupils and so they wanted to execute me. Of course, I escaped, and to get back at those ingrates, I decided to blow the whistle on their plans, of course, this idiot captured me, so that sorta put a damper on it!"

Magmatron looked surprised "You killed Cub? One of the strongest agents of the Tripredacus Council? How?" Magmatron asked.

"Sword to the throat." Onyx replied.

"What Primal did is besides the point!" Control interrupted "He's a criminal who must be brought to justice, as must you and all of your little lackeys!"

"Wait" Razorbeast spoke up for the first time "I have fought alongside Magmatron many times over the past few months. Over that time, he has had many opportunities to betray and kill us all, but he hasn't. In fact, he's saved our lives more times than I can recall. Does this sound like a mass murderer to you?" Razorbeast asked.

"He's an agent of the Tripredacus Council and must be brought to justice! I do not care what he has done to supposedly, "redeem" himself, it matters not. What does matter, is that he and his men are brought to justice!" Control hissed, before stepping towards Magmatron.

In response, Razorbeast pulled out his weapon "Magmatron has proved himself time and time again, you do not have the authority take him."

"I have the full authority granted to me by The Predacon V, the highest of all Predacon alliances! I can do whatever I wish to do!" Control spat.

"Let us take you back to our base, we can talk things over there...unless, you'd like to be blown to scrap?" Razorbeast asked.

"Are you threatening me Maximal?" Control asked.

"I don't make threats, Control, I make promises." Razorbeast replied coldly, before walking off.

Control turned, and saw the Pterosaur Squad and New Insecticons were all brandishing weaponry, weaponry that was trained solely on him. Control scowled, before grabbing Onyx's chain and dragging him with him.

* * *

Elsewhere, Blackarachnia, Silverbolt, Vice Grip, Scavenger, Manterror, Iguanus, Polar Claw and Bonecrusher were hiding in a small and cramped tunnel under the streets of Cybertron. They were waiting out the wrath of Savage, who had come out after Noble had received a minor wound at the hands of Scorponok.

"Oh, this is getting ridiculous!" Blackarachnia hissed "He's still out there, mad as a hornet, and he's still looking for us! Isn't there anyway out of here?" Blackarachnia asked, turning to Scavenger.

"Sure, did you think I'd be so stupid as to leave myself trapped in here?" Scavenger asked.

Blackarachnia shrugged "Possibly, you are a Predacon after all!"

"I'm going to choose to ignore that." Scavenger said as he moved a rock, revealing a tunnel.

"Thank Primus for that!" Vice Grip said, almost crushed by Bonecrusher "Where does the tunnel go?"

"Not far, only a couple of streets down, but we should be safe from that dragon friend of yours." Scavenger replied "I may have to make the hole a bit bigger though, for your...er, larger friends. Vehicle Mode!" Scavenger cried out, as he converted into a hybrid of ant and drill.

As Scavenger began enlarging the tunnel, Blackarachnia followed closely behind, followed by Silverbolt, then Vice Grip, then Manterror, Iguanus, Polar Claw and Bonecrusher. After a few minutes of tunnelling, the group finally made it to the surface.

"Finally!" Iguanus exclaimed "We're out of that dingy little tunnel!"

"Yeah, about time!" Manterror added.

In response, Scavenger glared at them "Oh, I'm sorry, that same dingy little tunnel that saved your lives?" Scavenger asked.

"Uh...sorry, no offence intended Scavenger, we really are grateful for you, uh, saving us and all." Iguanus replied.

"Yeah, thanks! Thanks a lot!" Manterror added, looking embarrassed.

Scavenger sighed "Fine, whatever. So guys, now what?" Scavenger asked.

"Well, we should probably head back to base." Blackarachnia replied.

"What about Savage?" Vice Grip asked.

"What about him?" Blackarachnia asked.

"Blackarachnia! We have to go back and sedate Savage in some way! He is one of us after all!" Silverbolt said.

Blackarachnia sighed "Sometimes I wish I wasn't dating someone so chivalrous."

The group made their way back to where Savage was going on his rampage.

"Well, how are we supposed to stop him?" Scavenger asked.

"I think that I might have a way." Vice Grip said.

"Oh yeah? How is that bug boy?" Bonecrusher asked.

"I can hit him with an EMP blast! With any luck, it might short him out for a while!" Vice Grip replied.

"But how much machine is left within Savage?" Silverbolt asked "Both of his forms seem to be purely organic!"

Vice Grip shrugged "Hopefully enough for this to work!"

"May as well try it, what's the worst that could happen?" Iguanus asked.

"Uh, well, I might fry Savage's circuits..." Vice Grip replied hesitantly.

"Works for me, fire that charge!" Blackarachnia ordered.

Vice grip complied, and blasted Savage. When the blast struck him, Savage roared out, and turned, only to collapse. He started convulsing, before changing back into the unconscious form of Noble.

"Well, I guess it worked, shame about that." Blackarachnia said.

"Come on, we had better get him back to the base!" Silverbolt said as he rushed to get to Noble.

"Yes, base...where is that, incidentally?" Scavenger asked

"Oh, you are not going to believe this! It's the Decepticon Spire!" Iguanus exclaimed.

Scavenger's eyes shot open "The Decepticon Spire? Sweet!"

* * *

Back at the base, Cataclysm was being escorted around by Cheetor.

"...And this is the communications room, still non functioning until we can fix it." Cheetor said.

Cataclysm whistled in appreciation "Wow Rider, this really is a nice setup you got going here!"

"Heh, thanks, good job earlier, you really proved yourself fighting those Vehicons! And the way that you saved Razorclaw from that Aero drone..." Cheetor said, giving Cataclysm a friendly punch on the wrist.

"Well, anything to help, besides, scrapping those clods was the most fun I've had in solar cycles!" Cataclysm replied.

"Great, well, that was the tour, we hoped you enjoyed it and please remember to stop by the gift shop!" Cheetor joked.

"Heh, Rider, you still got it. I look forward to fighting alongside you some more." Cataclysm said.

"Me too pal, me too!"

* * *

End of chapter 29. Well, Control is the first OC since Colonel Beta Maxx, way back in chapter 14. What did you guys think of him? Let me know in the reviews. Well, the group subdued Savage and rescued Polar Claw, Bonecrusher, Scavenger and Razorclaw, so what will happen next? And what about Blackarachnia's suspicions of Noble, are they correct? We'll just have to find out later! Alright, well, thanks for reading, I hope you enjoyed it! Until the next chapter!


	30. Combat, Accusations and Traitors: Part I

Hello, and welcome back to yet another chapter of New Beast Wars, chapter 30! Wow, quite the milestone, eh dear readers? Well, before the obligatory disclaimer, I'd like to thank you all for sticking with me for so long...don't worry, that's not a hint that the series will be ending soon, I'm just being sincere! Anyway, I do not own Beast Wars, Beast Machines, IDW Comics or any characters that are associated with The Transformers...sigh. Last chapter, Blackarachnia and her group managed to subdue Noble after he transformed into Savage and went on a rampage, but this only served to increase Blackarachnia's suspicions about his loyalty. Meanwhile, Cheetor ran into his childhood friend Cataclysm, while Magmatron and his men were placed under arrest by Predacon commander Control, who served the original five Predacons! What will happen next? Well, I guess you'll just have to read to find out! Ok, well, don't forget to leave a review when you're done, and thanks for reading!

* * *

Thrust scowled, all around him, his Cycle drones were getting shot down by those meddlesome Maximals and those damn Predacons. To his right, Terragator was blasting his way through the opposition, while to his left, Injector and Spittor were tearing their way through his Cycle drone's. Thrust cursed _I need something to hit!_ Thrust thought, before his eyes settled on Unit 11.

"Unit 11! Come here!" Thrust ordered.

Unit 11 complied, rolling over to his leader's side, only to receive a punch to the head.

"Thank you Unit 11, I feel much better now." Thrust said as Unit 11 picked himself up.

"Surrender Thrust!" Stink Bomb commanded as he, Spittor and Noctorro leapt in front of Thrust and Unit 11.

"I think not Maximals, for I know something that you don't know!" Thrust taunted.

"Oh yeah? And what would that be?" Noctorro asked.

"I have back up!" Thrust exclaimed as he and Unit 11 were suddenly lifted up into the air.

"Wha-?" Stink Bomb asked, until he looked up and saw Jetstorm and Antagony flying away with Thrust and Unit 11 in their arms "Blast!" Stink Bomb cursed.

"Later Maximal losers!" Antagony shouted as she flew off.

"Should we go after them?" Spittor asked.

"I-Hold on, I'm receiving a message from Optimus." Stink Bomb said as he pulled out his com link.

"Stink Bomb, I need you and your team to return to base immediately, we have some...new arrivals." Optimus' said over the com link.

Stink Bomb raised a brow "More survivors?"

"No, off worlders...and one of them requested Spittor." Optimus added hesitantly.

Now Spittor raised his brow "Me? What would they want me for?" Spittor asked, not afraid, but merely curious.

Stink Bomb shrugged "I don't know, I guess we'll just find out when we get back to base."

* * *

Back at the Decepticon Spire, Iguanus strode down the hallway. He had been told to go to a certain room, although he had not been told the reason. Spittor suddenly walked up beside him.

"Spittor." Iguanas said with a slight nod of his head.

"Iguanus." Spittor replied "You know what all this is about?" Spittor asked.

"No idea, but I'm sure that we're about to find out."

The two walked into a large, circular room, and were surprised to see Magmatron, Manterror and Transquito were also waiting there. Transquito looked nervous, while Manterror simply looked confused. He had gotten there ahead of Iguanus, and had only just been told by Magmatron what was going on. As for Magmatron, he kept a stony face and stared ahead with such intensity that Spittor was surprised that there weren't scorch marks in the walls.

"Uh, guys?" Spittor asked "What's happening?"

Magmatron scowled "Some Predacon commander showed up with warrants for our arrests! Frankly, I doubt it will stand at this point in time, but this commander is very stubborn and arrogant! Reminds me of Megatron actually..." Magmatron replied.

"We're zzzzcrewed." Transquito muttered.

Control suddenly burst into the room, startling all those present except for Magmatron.

"Would the Tripredacus soldier known as Transquito, aka NovaScream follow me?" Control asked in a cold voice.

Transquito flinched, before he hesitantly stood up.

"Uh...here zir..." Transquito spoke up.

Control glared at him "I didn't want confirmation of where you were, I told you to step forward, so do it maggot!"

Transquito flinched again, before he slowly walked towards Control.

"Faster!" Control ordered, before kicking Transquito to speed him up.

Transquito yelped in response, before hurrying out the door.

Spittor scowled "Damn creep thinks he can do whatever he wants!"

* * *

In a separate room, Control and Transquito were sitting at opposite ends of a table.

"So, Transquito, or perhaps, you'd like to be called by your pre-Earth name of NovaScream?" Control asked.

Transquito shook his head.

"No? Very well then, "Transquito", what do you know of the Vehicon attacks on Cybertron?"

"N-nothing, I wazzzzn't on Cybertron when the Vehiconzzzz attacked, I wazzzz with Magmatron." Transquito protested.

Control suddenly slammed the palm of his hand down on the desk "Don't you dare lie to me insect boy! You and the others were all in on it, weren't you?"

"N-no! None of us knew about it!" Transquito squealed.

Control leant back in his seat "Do you know what the penalty is for lying to a superior officer?" Control asked.

Transquito remained silent.

"Death. Death is the penalty, keeps the soldiers honest...or do they do things differently in your faction?" Control asked.

Transquito suddenly fainted.

Control sighed "Useless. Well 'Skito, I suppose that we'll just have to reschedule."

* * *

One by one, Control called in the other Predacons, after Transquito, it was Manterror (Sideswipe), then Spittor (Toxin), followed by Iguanus (Hightower) and finally, Magmatron.

"Alright, Magmatron, you're next, and then we can move on to your second in command, Drill Bits, aka Gravedigger...wait, where is Gravedigger?" Control asked, looking around the room.

Iguanus sighed and stared down at his feet "Dead, he got scrapped a few weeks back after he fell down a pit."

Control tsked "No care at all with you Tripredacus soldiers, is there? Well, I suppose I can strike one of you off of the wanted list, at least it will make my job easier."

Spittor launched himself at Control, only to be held back by Manterror and Iguanus.

"Ooh, attempted assault on a superior officer, tsk, tsk, that will be another fifteen years to your sentence!" Control said in a smug voice.

In response, Spittor spat at Control "Someday, that attitude of yours is going to get you scrapped, I hope I'm there on that day!"

Control chuckled "Threats? Another five years! Well, as much as I would love to stay and chat with you further, I still need to interrogate Magmatron."

Magmatron scowled as Control led him out of the room and into the interrogation chamber.

* * *

Elsewhere, Cheetor and Cataclysm were skulking around in the communications room.

"So, what do you think of this place Cataclysm? Isn't it ultra gear?" Cheetor asked.

"Oh yeah Rider, I've never seen any place like this!" Cataclysm responded as he looked around the base in wonder.

"I see you're impressed."

"Oh yes, this place is fascinating! Think of everything that's happened here!" Cataclysm said.

"Oh, that's right, you always were interested in ancient history and the Great War." Cheetor said.

"Yes, can you believe that the Maximal elders won't let us look at it? What a travesty!" Cataclysm said with annoyance.

The two continued to talk, unaware that they were being watched.

* * *

Meanwhile, Blackarachnia was talking with Optimus Primal, regarding the circumstances in which they had subdued Savage.

"Let me get this straight, you had had Vice Grip hit Savage with an EMP blast, despite being warned of the possible detrimental side effects?" Optimus asked, annoyance creeping into his voice.

Blackarachnia did not care whether Optimus was annoyed or not "I had no choice Optimus, he was going on a rampage, it was either him or us!"

Optimus stood up "You risked the life of one of our own without looking for any other options? What were you thinking?" Optimus exclaimed.

"Well what other options do you suppose there were? Wait around until he destroyed everything and calmed down?" Blackarachnia shot back.

"It was better than risking Noble's life!" Optimus shouted.

"His life? How can we trust him? We know nothing about him! He just shows up one day with some story of him being captured by Vehicons, a_fter _he attacked several of our soldiers!" Blackarachnia shouted back, glaring at Optimus.

"We have no reason not to trust him! Why are you so suspicious Blackarachnia? Noble has done nothing to deserve such treatment!"

"I don't trust him! There's something off about him!"

"What? What could it possibly be Blackarachnia?" Optimus asked.

"I don't know, but I aim to find out!" Blackarachnia scowled, before storming off.

"Blackarachnia, this isn't over! Get back here now!" Optimus called out, only to be ignored by the former Predacon.

"Fool!" Blackarachnia hissed as she strode down the corridor.

* * *

Back in the waiting room, the Predacons were becoming more nervous.

"Oh man, what do you think he's gonna do to us?" Manterror asked nervously.

"What can he do? We're fighting a war here!" Iguanus replied, glaring at the door.

"He's an arrogant fool, he'll do whatever he wants if he thinks he can get away with it!" Spittor said, still angered over Control's remarks about Drill Bit.

The door to the waiting room suddenly flew open, and Magmatron was thrown to the ground, clearly in pain. As his soldiers rushed to his side, Control stepped through.

"Well, that's all of you, but I still have one more to interview." Control said.

"Who? We told you, Drill Bit is dead, and we're the only crew Magmatron took with him!" Spittor said, glaring at Control.

"I am not referring to any of you, I am referring to the Tripredacus agent Ravage! Now, where is he?" Control asked menacingly as he loomed over Spittor.

Suddenly, the lights cut out, flooding the room in total darkness.

"Wha-?" Control asked, before he was shoved to the ground by someone.

"Quick, let's get out of here!" A voice which probably belonged to Manterror cried out.

"What? Don't you dare! Come back here maggots!" Control yelled as he heard the others run for the door.

"Payback." A voice muttered, before Control felt a sharp pain in the side of his head "Enjoy it creep!"

* * *

Elsewhere, Silverbolt was walking down a hallway when the blackout hit.

"Huh? What's going on?" Silverbolt asked himself.

"A very good question." A voice responded.

"What? Noble...is that you?" Silverbolt asked.

"Indeed, it is. I was making my way down these halls when I was plunged into darkness." Noble replied.

"Hmm, what do you propose we do now then?" Silverbolt asked.

There was a brief silence as Noble contemplated their next move "I think that we should go and find the others, this may be the preliminary stages of a Vehicon assault."

Silverbolt balked "A Vehicon attack? But this building has its own generator and emergency backup, someone would need to disable the power from the inside!"

"Then perhaps we have a traitor in our midst."Noble said darkly.

* * *

Outside, as Noble had predicted, the Vehicons had amassed a massive assault force. Since the Vehicons last encounter with the Maximals and the Predacons, they had met up with Scorponok and his Tank drones.

"Are we ready? Is everyone in position?" Antagony asked Jetstorm.

"Yes my dear Antagony, we have completed the first stage of our plan, now all we have to do is retake our fortress!" Jetstorm replied.

"Excellent! Soon, those Maximal fools will rue the day that they tried to retake Cybertron!" Antagony said with a smirk.

"Are we ready?" Thrust asked as he rolled up to the pair, alongside Scorponok.

"Yes, we are." Antagony replied, still staring intently at the Decepticon Spire.

"Well then, if nobody has any objections, I say we CHARGE!" Scorponok bellowed as he and is Tank drones rushed towards the Vehicon Spire.

"Foolish little scorpion." Antagony said as she shook her head.

* * *

In his quarters, Optimus felt the ground shake.

"What's the-?" Optimus asked, before he opened the blinds that covered the windows "No..." Optimus gasped as he saw the Vehicons rumbling towards the Spire.

Optimus rushed to the intercom system "Attention all Maximals and Predacons, we are under attack, all soldiers prepare for combat immediately!"

* * *

"Combat? Alright, I've been looking for a fight!" Snapper said as he hurried towards the entrance.

"His love of combat will one day be the death of him..." Armordillo muttered to his protégé Snarl before the two of them ran after him.

* * *

"Oh goody! It's about time we got to see some action!" Insecticon said gleefully as he pulled out his weapons.

"Battle? No thank you, I'd rather stay here!" Scourge said as he clutched his staff tightly.

"Oh, where's your spine!" Scarem said as he rushed towards the action.

"I don't have one! I'm a locust!" Scourge called after him.

* * *

"Rawk! Alright men, listen up, we're fighting a large assault force here, some of you may not survive!" Terrorsaur said as he paced back and forth across the room.

"Not survive? Count Waspinator out!" Waspinator exclaimed as he waved his arms back and forth.

"Oh come on Waspinator! This might be fun!" Lazorbeak said as he held his mega cannon up in front of him, a grin crossing his face.

"There is something seriously wrong with you..." Fractyl muttered.

* * *

At the entrance, the Maximals and the Predacons all stood, ready to repel the Vehicon forces, even if it cost them their lives.

* * *

End of chapter 30. Well, sorry to end it on a cliff hanger, but I promise, next chapter will have a large fight scene for all of the action fans out there! And now for some speculation, if the power was shut off from the inside, could there really be a traitor? And if so, who could it be? Not to mention, who was spying on Cheetor and Cataclysm? Anyway, I hope that you enjoyed it, don't forget to leave a review when you're done! Thanks for reading!


	31. Combat, Accusations and Traitors: Part 2

Hello, and welcome to the thirty first chapter of the tale that I like to call, New Beast Wars. As usual, I do not own Beast Wars, Beast Machines, IDW Comics or any characters that are associated with The Transformers franchise. Last chapter, a saboteur invaded the Decepticon Spire and plunged it into darkness, leaving it wide open for an attack from the Vehicon forces. Now, the question is, who is the mysterious saboteur? Is he one of the latest arrivals in the New Beast Wars? Or is he one of the older soldiers whose been there from the start? Will we find out in this chapter? Who knows! But, why not read and find out? Ok, well, thank you for choosing New Beast Wars as your source of entertainment and don't forget to leave a review. Oh yeah, one more thing...Thanks for reading!

* * *

Outside of the Decepticon Spire, a massive force of Vehicons was facing their enemies, the combined forces of the Maximals and Predacons. At the head of the Vehicons was the new leader of the Tank drones, Scorponok. Closely behind him were Antagony, Thrust and Jetstorm. Cheetor turned to face Optimus Primal.

"Hey, uh, Big bot?" Cheetor asked.

"Yes Cheetor?" Optimus responded, turning to face his friend.

"You think we're going to be able to get out of this one?"

"I don't know Cheetor, but if we don't we can at least give them one humongous repair bill!" Optimus said as he raised his weapon.

Cheetor's eyes lit up "Alright! Now you're talking Optimus! Let's go get 'em!"

"Wait for uzzzz!" Transquito shouted as he, Spittor, Iguanus, Manterror and Magmatron ran through the base's entrance.

"Predacons, charge! Show no fear!" Magmatron cried, before splitting into his three individual components and charging the Vehicon hordes.

"Rawk! You heard him men! Let's rip them apart!" Terrorsaur exclaimed as he and his men took to the skies.

"Vehicons, attack! Show them no mercy!" Scorponok cried, before transforming into tank mode and rumbling towards his enemy.

It was chaos as all hell broke loose. Shots were fired from all sides, and drones collapsed, clutching at gaping wounds blown into them by enemy fire. Noble howled as he severed a Tank drone's head, before leaping at a Cycle drone to maul it. Meanwhile, Blackarachnia was impaling Vehicons with the scrapped parts of their brethren, using her Transmetal II enabled psychic abilities.

Up in the sky, Injector was engaged in a dogfight with numerous Aero drones "Rejoice, pitiful fools, for the last thing you shall ever see in life is my glorious face!" Injector cried as he effortlessly shot down no less than four Aero drones.

Nearby, Skysaur showed his battle prowess and strength by ripping a Vehicon in half in his massive talons. Fractyl and Lazorbeak had since broken away from the other members of the Pterosaur Squad and were now fighting back to back, Lazorbeak unleashing powerful bursts on energy from his mega cannon while Fractyl relied on his shoulder mounted turrets to send Aero drones plummeting to their doom.

"Alright you aerial clods! I'll show you who the real king of the skies is!" Vespid exclaimed as he led two Vehicons on a chase, before suddenly breaking away and destroying them with a pair of missiles.

"Nice job Vespid!" Airazor said as she flew by, firing at a group of drones as she did so.

"Thanks! I really showed them how to get it done eh?" Vespid chuckled as he opened fire on another Vehicon.

"You may be a match for simple aerial drones, but can you best me?" Antagony asked as she rammed Vespid, striking him in the back.

"Argh!" Vespid cried out as he was sent hurtling towards the ground.

"Vespid!" Prowl II cried out as he flew after him, managing to catch him in his large and powerful talons.

"Alright, that's one down, who's next?" Antagony asked as she turned to scope out the opposition "Ah! How about you?" She asked as she flew straight towards Night Glider.

"You shall not defeat me Vehicon scum!" Night Glider said through gritted teeth as he blocked Antagony's weapons with his sword.

"Oh really Maximal? Well, we shall have to see about that!" Antagony smirked as she activated her optic lasers, burning Night Glider's face.

"Aaahh!" Night Glider screamed as he clutched his smoking face "You shall pay for that dirty trick wench!" Night Glider spat.

"Well don't just hover there! Attack me if you think you're Maximal enough for it!" Antagony taunted.

"Very well! Be on your guard!" Night Glider cried as he charged at Antagony.

* * *

Back on the ground, the Maximals and Predacons feared that they would soon be overwhelmed by the massive horde of Vehicon Tank and Cycle drones, there seemed to be no end to them.

"Blast!" Vice Grip cursed as he opened fire on the enemy "There is no end to them! No matter how many we shoot down, two more take its place!"

"Stay strong Vice Grip! We will not lose this day!" Silverbolt said as he fought alongside his friend.

The two slowly backed away as the Vehicons lumbered towards them.

"Duck!" A voice from behind them called out.

Vice Grip and Silverbolt complied, just in time to avoid a hail of shrapnel that quickly embedded itself into the Vehicon forces.

"And that is how you get it done." Blackarachnia said as she walked up to the stunned pair of Vice Grip and Silverbolt.

"My love! You saved us!" Silverbolt exclaimed, rushing to embrace Blackarachnia.

Blackarachnia roughly pushed him aside "Silverbolt, what did I say about calling me that in front of the Pred?" Blackarachnia asked, a stern look on her face.

Silverbolt chuckled nervously, a sheepish grin on his face.

Suddenly, Grimlock and Sky Shadow came up to the trio.

"Sirs! The Vehicons are beginning to breach the perimeter! What shall we do?" Sky Shadow asked, the panic evident on his reptilian face as he hovered nervously.

"Me Grimlock say we fight!" Grimlock roared as he turned and melted a Tank drone to slag with his fiery breath.

"That ain't gonna be enough to stop 'em!" Sky Shadow exclaimed.

"Fall back and resume attack from Fallback Position One!" Blackarachnia ordered "With any luck, we might be able to repel them from there!"

"At once commander!" Sky Shadow said, flying off to follow his orders.

* * *

At FB 1, Bonecrusher was repelling the oncoming Vehicon forces by launching missiles at them, allowing his allies to get to the safety of the second perimeter. Suddenly, Dinobot launched himself over the barrier and began hacking at his opponents.

"Dinobot! Get back behind the wall!" Rhinox ordered as he provided covering fire for the others who had not yet arrived by using his massive chain guns.

"Never!" Dinobot cried as he gutted a Cycle drone "I shall make these Vehicons pay for what they did to me!"

"Chopper Face, get back here now!" Rattrap shouted.

Dinobot however, ignored him and continued to fight in a frenzied state which seemed to grant him superhuman strength and endurance.

"Jeez, will ya look at that?" Rattrap pointed out "You'd think they destroyed his hometown instead of ripping a psychopath out of his chest!"

"He seemed unusually close to Rampage, maybe they developed some kind of bond?" Rhinox suggested as he gunned down a Tank drone.

"Yeah, maybe...still weird though."

* * *

"Come on Cataclysm, let's show these goons how we get things done!" Cheetor cried out as he leapt at a Cycle drone, Beeline buzzing closely behind him.

"Sure thing Cheetor! Just let me finish off this Aero drone!" Cataclysm replied as he clawed an Aero drone in midflight.

"Cheetor, Maximise!"

"Cataclysm, Maximise!"

The two cat's cried out as they returned to robot mode and opened fire on the enemy.

"Oh yeah! We're beating them now!" Cataclysm grinned as he blew away yet another Cycle drone.

"You show 'em!" Cheetor said as he clubbed another Vehicon with his flail while the ever faithful Beeline perched on his shoulder.

* * *

On the top of the Decepticon Spire, the New Insecticons were perched on the roof, preparing to open fire.

"Alright New Insecticons, on my mark...one...two...three...UNLEASH HELL!" Scarem cried. As he Scourge and Insecticon fired volley after volley of laser blasts.

In the skies and on the ground, drones of various types fell at the hands of the insectoid trio.

"Ha! We sure showed them, eh Scourge?" Insecticon asked, turning to the staff wielding member of their group.

"Yes, we certainly showed them not to mess with us!" Scourge exclaimed triumphantly, before letting out a yelp and flying off.

"Huh? What's his-?" Scarem began, before turning to see exactly what had gotten Scourge so spooked.

A massive number of Aero drones all flying towards them.

"Eep!" Scarem cried, before he and Insecticon flew after Scourge.

Snapper however, was not deterred by the hordes of flying Vehicons. Instead of fleeing, he flew straight into their midst and whistled, drawing all optics towards him.

"Hey creeps! Ever see a jet propelled turtle do this?" Snapper asked as he retracted himself back into his shell, began twisting rapidly, and then firing through the holes of his shell.

* * *

Back on the ground, Rattrap, Dinobot, Rhinox, Sonar, Razorclaw and Bantor were fighting off a platoon of Cycle drones. Currently, it looked as if they would successfully repel the invaders.

"I can't believe it! It looks as if their numbers are thinning!" Razorclaw said.

"Yeah, we might even have a shot of winning this yet!" Bantor exclaimed.

"And no one's even got seriously hurt yet!" Rattrap said.

As if in slow motion, a shot hit Rattrap in the chest. His grin seemed frozen on his face as he crumpled to the ground. The others stood there in stunned silence for a moment, before Sonar broke the silence.

"Rattrap! No!" Sonar cried, cradling Rattrap's head.

"Heh...don't worry about me...I'll be fine..." Rattrap murmured faintly.

"Rhinox, you have to do something!" Sonar pleaded, knocking Rhinox out of his daze.

"At this point, I'm not sure that I can." Rhinox whispered.

"Please Rhinox! You have to try!"

"Rhinox, I owe my very life to Rattrap, you must do something, anything!" Dinobot broke in.

Rhinox bit his lower lip plate "He has a slim chance, but we have to get him back to one of the CR chambers in the Spire, I'll need covering fire to get him there though!"

"If that is what you require, then that is what you shall get!" Razorclaw said as he brandished his claws.

"Go Rhinox, we shall protect you with our very beings!" Dinobot said.

"Just please help him!" Sonar added.

Rhinox nodded "I'll try."

And with that, Rhinox scooped up the small form of Rattrap and rushed back towards the spire.

"Keep him safe! Protect Rhinox!" Dinobot cried as he shot at a Tank drone that had dared to wander too close.

"Be safe Rattrap." Sonar whispered.

* * *

Meanwhile, Terrorsaur was squaring off against Scorponok.

"How could you betray us Scorponok! I thought we were friends!" Terrorsaur exclaimed.

"Then you were a fool! My loyalty to Megatron comes before everything else, even friendship!" Scorponok spat.

"But what has Megatron ever done for us? The entire time that we've served alongside him, he has done nothing but treat us like pawns! Wake up Scorponok, we are all expendable to him!" Terrorsaur said as he dodged a blast of energy.

"Maybe you are, but I'm not! I'm his second in command! Megatron trust's me, he cherishes me! I could never be considered expendable to him!" Scorponok replied as he fired yet another shot.

"Open your eyes Scorponok! Didn't you see how Megatron saw Inferno as more useful to him than you? He even replaced you as second in command after we were trapped!" Terrorsaur said, flying in order to dodge Scorponok's shots.

"Shut up! Shut up! Megatron would never do that!" Scorponok yelled, his shots becoming more erratic.

"Don't you remember when he tried to capture the _Axalon _when Optimus was injured and Dinobot was the only one able to fight? Tarantulas told me that Megatron offered Dinobot his position as second in command back if he were to rejoin him! You are nothing to him!" Terrorsaur persisted.

"SHUT UP!" Scorponok roared, firing every weapon that he had all at once, not a single shot hitting Terrorsaur, before Scorponok collapsed onto his knees.

"Scorponok, Megatron will eventually turn on you when you are no longer useful to him...please, abandon him." Terrorsaur pleaded.

"Never!" Scorponok shouted, leaping to his feet and hitting Terrorsaur with enough force to send him flying into an airborne Waspinator "I'm done with you Terrorsaur, our friendship is over." Scorponok said as he walked away.

"Scorponok..." Terrorsaur murmured as he lay in a heap alongside Waspinator.

* * *

In the air, Jetstorm had noticed that Scorponok was departing "Where does that damn fool think he's going?" He asked Antagony.

"Beats me, but if that little coward wants to flee then let him!" Antagony said as she fired at Manterror.

"If you think that we can manage without him my dear."

"Oh please, what could that weakling actually contribute to our assault?" Antagony asked.

"Well...maybe those Tank drones..." Jetstorm answered hesitantly.

"What?" Antagony asked, glancing towards the ground.

All of the remaining Tank drones were retreating

"Oh that little-! No matter, we can still win without him!" Antagony said.

* * *

On the ground, Noble was getting more and more worked up.

"Kill them! Kill them all!" He roared as he bit into a Cycle drone's neck.

"Uh, Savage? Maybe you should calm down?" Snarl asked nervously.

"Kill them! Kill them!" Noble growled as he started foaming at the mouth.

"Uh...Arms?" Snarl asked uncertainly.

Armordillo frowned "Oh no! I think he's transforming! Run!"

As Noble writhed in agony, he began to transform into the beast like Savage. This was a change which did not go unnoticed by the Vehicons.

"Oh no! He's back!" Thrust exclaimed.

Savage turned to find the source of the noise, his small eyes finally setting upon Thrust.

"And he remembers me...Eep!"

Savage snarled and black smoke began drifting up from his nostrils.

"Aw, to hell with this, I'm getting out of here!" Thrust screamed as he cycled away.

Savage turned, angered at having lost the chance to deal with his old foe, and then his eyes settled on Optimus. Savage roared and he charged at Optimus.

"Noble please! I know you're in there! Don't let your anger control you, you have to fight it!" Optimus said as he struggled with Savage.

In response, Savage roared again and prepared to unleash a fire storm.

* * *

"Oh no, that thing's out again! Vice Grip, you have to stop it!" Blackarachnia said, pointing out Savage to Vice Grip.

"But Optimus said that I shouldn't do that, I might hurt Noble!" Vice Grip protested.

"If you don't hurry up, then Optimus is the one who's going to get hurt, so hurry up and stop him!" Blackarachnia growled.

"Yes commander!" Vice Grip said, charging his EMP cannon "Forgive me Optimus..." Vice Grip whispered as he fired.

* * *

Savage roared as the blast struck his hide.

"Wha-?" Optimus asked as Savage's struggles became weaker.

Soon, Savage's movements ceased altogether and he transformed back into an unconscious Noble.

* * *

Back in the air, Antagony and Jetstorm noticed the rapidly dwindling number of Vehicons.

"Argh! It's no good, we'll have to pull out!" Antagony spat.

"But..my dear, surely we can still win?" Jetstorm suggested.

"Listen bub, I am not risking my life for this mission! You can risk your all you like, but I'm going!" Antagony scowled, grabbing Jetstorm before jetting off.

Jetstorm hesitated, before following her "Wait for me my dear!" Jetstorm called out.

* * *

With the retreat of all Vehicon generals, the surviving drones became aimless and lost. They were easy prey for the Maximals and Predacons.

"It's...it's over! We did it!" Cheetor cried out.

"High five me bro!" Cataclysm exclaimed in triumph.

"But wait...what about the saboteur?" Silverbolt asked "The power could only have been deactivated from the inside!"

All of the soldiers looked at each other uneasily. It was unsettling to think that there was a second traitor within their midst.

"I know who it was!" A voice cried out.

All those present turned to see Ravage, who had been mysteriously absent for the entire battle.

"Ravage! Where have you been?" Dinobot asked, glancing at the Decepticon suspiciously.

"Yeah, we haven't seen you at all for the past three mega cycles!" Iguanus said.

Suddenly, Control lumbered out of the entrance "What is going on here? Where are my prisoners?"

"They are not your prisoners, they are my soldiers!" Optimus replied, glaring at Control.

"They are criminals who must be brought to justice! They assaulted an officer of the Predacon army, for that they must die!"

"Not one of us will allow you to do that Control, just look around you!" Optimus said.

Control did so, and noticed that dozens of weapons were trained solely on him.

"You will all pay for this! I swear it!" Control spat.

"Now, Ravage, who is the traitor!" Optimus asked.

"It's Noble! He did it Optimus! Silverbolt said he was skulking around near the generators!" Blackarachnia accused, pointing at the groggy Noble, who had just regained consciousness.

"Me? But I hate the Vehicons!" Noble protested.

"A likely story!" Blackarachnia said, glaring at Noble.

"But I'm innocent!"

"No you're not! You're a liar!"

"Actually" Ravage interjected "He's telling the truth."

"Huh?" Blackarachnia asked.

"Yes, Noble is innocent."

"Then...Control?" Insecticon asked.

Ravage shook his head "No, he too is innocent, as Magmatron and his crew will attest. No, the real culprit here is...Cataclysm!" Ravage shouted, pointing out the traitor.

* * *

And end of chapter the thirty first. Well, what did you think? I hope you enjoyed it, especially those who enjoy action, violence and suspense. Well, surprise, surprise, Cataclysm has been accused of being a traitor. Is Ravage right? Unfortunately, we'll have to wait until next chapter to see! But hey, I'm on holiday, so I'll have all day to right the next chapter, so another update should be soon! Let me know if you think Cataclysm is really a traitor in the reviews, ok? And what about Rattrap? Will he pull through, or will he be another casualty in the New Beast Wars? Well, that about does it from me, I hope you enjoyed it, please remember to review, and finally...Thanks for reading! Until the next chapter!


	32. The Saboteur is

Hello, and once again, welcome to New Beast Wars, chapter 32. As usual, I do not own Beast Wars, I do not own Beast Machines, I do not own IDC Comics and I certainly do not own The Transformers or any characters that are associated with The Transformers. What do I own, I hear you ask? Well, I do own the OC Control...but that's pretty much it...oh well...Anyway, last chapter, A full on battle occurred between the Maximals, Predacons and Vehicons. While the battle raged, Terrorsaur tried to talk some sense into Scorponok, seemingly to no avail, Control woke up after being knocked out by a very annoyed Spittor, Rattrap was critically damaged by Thrust and a conspicuously absent Ravage showed up to reveal Cataclysm as the saboteur. Is Cataclysm really the saboteur? Will Rattrap recover from his grievous wounds? And what about Scorponok, will he finally see reason? Some of these questions and others will be revealed on today's gripping instalment of New Beast Wars! Well, thank you for reading my story, don't forget to leave a review and I hope that you enjoy the story. Thanks!

* * *

"The saboteur is...Cataclysm!" Ravage accused, pointing a finger in Cataclysm's direction.

Everyone present gasped, and Cataclysm took a step back, a shocked look on his face.

"Me? Have you fried your circuits? I'm a Maximal!" Cataclysm protested.

"Yeah! Cataclysm could never do something like that!" Cheetor said, defending his friend.

"Oh contraire! Cataclysm could and he did! For you see, he is no Maximal! He is an agent of the Tripredacus Council! In fact, I saw him enter the generator room and sabotage it!" Ravage said, glaring at Cataclysm.

"What? That's crazy! I've known Cataclysm my whole, he would never join those Unicron spawn!" Cheetor exclaimed.

"Oh, but he did! Perhaps you should reconsider your relationship with your so called friend Cheetor, he's been lying to you this whole time!" Ravage persisted.

"This...this is ridiculous! I don't have to stand around here listening to these accusations!" Cataclysm said, and he turned to leave, only to be blocked by Rhinox.

"No. You stay right here." Rhinox said sternly.

"Oh come on Rhinox, you can't honestly believe that my old pal Cataclysm is guilty, can ya?" Cheetor asked.

"Perhaps he is guilty, perhaps he isn't, but we need to hear Ravage out Cheetor." Rhinox said, turning to Cheetor, one hand placed firmly on Cataclysm's shoulder.

"But Rhinox, Ravage is a Decepticon! Not only that, but he tried to kill us back on Earth! Do you really think we can trust him?" Cheetor asked, glaring at Ravage.

"I think the question is Cheetor, are _you_ sure that you can trust Cataclysm?" Rhinox asked.

"Of...of course I can Rhinox!" Cheetor said uncertainly.

"Can you? You said you hadn't seen Cataclysm since you graduated from the Maximal Academy. How many solar cycles was that Cheetor? Three? Four?" Rhinox continued "In that time, he could have defected to the Predacons for all you know!"

Cheetor shook his head "No! That's impossible!"

"I remember him quite well, he was a very promising young soldier when I first saw him, he said he wanted to be just like us...Predacons." Ravage stepped in.

"Shut up! Shut up you lousy Decepticon garbage!" Cheetor cried, pulling out his weapon and aiming it at Ravage.

Ravage did not so much as flinch "If you don't believe me, then ask that turncoat Onyx Primal, perhaps he can give you a more satisfactory answer."

"Impossible, Onyx Primal is a prisoner under my jurisdiction!" Control protested.

"What are you complaining about? If he confirms my story then you shall have one more prisoner." Ravage pointed out.

Control stroked his chin "Hmmm...Yeah, that's a good point...ok, I'll go get him then!" And with that, Control turned and went to fetch Onyx Primal.

"You're wrong! I'll make you pay for these accusations!" Cataclysm spat at Ravage.

"Oh yes? Hard to do if you're nothing more than a pile of scrap." Ravage said nonchalantly.

Cataclysm roared and launched himself at Ravage, only to be restrained by Tigatron and Noble.

"Control your temper! Things aren't looking good for you now, and they're only going to get worse if you act out!" Tigatron reprimanded.

Control walked out of the Spire, Onyx Primal walked alongside him, bound in chains. Control kicked Onyx to the ground, then roughly pulled him up to face Cataclysm.

"Think very carefully before you answer worm, is this, or is this not, an agent of the Tripredacus Council?" Control asked.

Onyx stared at Cataclysm for a few moments before answering "Yes...he is...I'd recognise him anywhere...he's Cub's brother!"

Everyone gasped at the revelation.

"Your brother was the legendary Cub?" Manterror asked, stunned.

"Cataclysm...you're not really a...you can't be!" Cheetor protested.

Cataclysm shook himself loose of Tigatron and Noble "You stupid fool...you killed my brother!" Cataclysm shouted, launching himself at Onyx Primal, only for Magmatron to pull him off.

"Hey! That creep attacked me first! 'Sides, he was going to help lead the attack on Cybertron! I may be a lot of things, but I ain't going to sit back an' watch as genocide is committed!"

Cataclysm roared again, causing Magmatron to increase his grip on him.

"So, we have our traitor! Amazing, I never thought it would have been a runt like you!" Magmatron said.

"But Cataclysm...why?" Cheetor asked, the hurt and betrayal clear in his optics.

"Because I hate the Maximals! When I signed up, I thought it would be exciting and adventurous, not colonising planets! They give us no freedom Rider! They refuse to give us access to our history! But the Predacons didn't, oh no, they let me see, they showed me our history! The Maximals blinded us Rider! The Autobots were just as bad as the Decepticons! Why should I serve the descendants of hypocrites and liars who try to hide their deceit?"

"But the Predacons are just as bad!" Cheetor exclaimed.

"Are they? Are they really? They at least are honest, and they dream of creating a better universe through their control! Think of it Rider, all races, united under one banner, the Predacon banner!" Cataclysm said.

"What you're suggesting is dictatorship! No one will be free, they'll all be slaves to the Predacons!"

"No! It will be glorious! You are a fool if you cannot see that Rider!"

"And you're a fool for believing it!" Cheetor spat.

"A shame that you feel that way Cheetor, we could have fought alongside each other for a common goal, but you had to side with the liars...our friendship cannot continue if you side with the Maximals Cheetor, make your choice." Cataclysm said darkly, staring at Cheetor.

Cheetor looked down at his feet and whispered "There is no choice Cataclysm...none at all."

Cataclysm scowled "So be it. When next we meet, I shall be out for your mech fluids, Rider!"

"Not so fast! You're not going anywhere!" Silverbolt said, as he and the others began advancing on Cataclysm.

"Maximal fools! Beast Mode!" Cataclysm cried out as he transformed, wrestling free of Magmatron's grip, before activating his thrusters and flying off.

"Blast! He got away!" Tigatron scowled.

"Cataclysm..." Cheetor murmured.

"I will need to report your glaring incompetence to my superiors." Control said, turning to leave.

* * *

At the Vehicon base, the drone generals were talking amongst themselves.

"We would have won if not for you deserting Scorponok!" Antagony said, glaring at Scorponok.

"I...I had a lot on my mind..." Scorponok muttered, glancing off into the distance.

"What mind? You're a thick headed idiot who isn't fit to repair a sink!" Antagony snapped.

"Careful my dear, no use upsetting yourself." Jetstorm said.

"Aw shut up! It's not just that incompetent fool Scorponok, it's Thrust too!"

What? What did I do?" Thrust exclaimed.

"You turned tail and fled!"

"You would too if you were facing that overgrown lizard!" Thrust protested.

"Coward!"

"Maximal spawn!"

"Ahem" Jetstorm broke in, holding his hands up "Perhaps we should not be so quick to judge, remember, we are all that is left of the Vehicon forces on Cybertron."

"Not quite." A voice broke in.

"Eh? Who are you? Show yourself!" Thrust shouted into the gloom.

Cataclsym stepped forward "What's this? Do I detect some dissension? Trouble perhaps?"

"Who the Unicron are you?" Thrust asked, glaring at the newcomer.

"Excellent question. Who the Unicron? Who the Unicron indeed. Please, call me Cataclysm, I am but a humble servant of the Council." Cataclysm responded, bowing slightly.

"You? You serve the Tripredacus Council?" Jetstorm asked.

"Indeed, I was sent here to help you, act as backup and such, but I thought I would be much better sabotaging the Maximals."

"So it was you who told us to come to the Spire! You're the one who sabotaged them!" Scorponok exclaimed.

"Yes, you really are a master detective, kudos to you." Cataclysm said sarcastically.

"Wait, I remember you! You're the runty little brother of Cub!" Antagony said, her eyes narrowing.

"Indeed I am. However, he's the late Cub now, killed by the treacherous Onyx Primal." Cataclysm replied, his tone and facial features the same, but his body suddenly tense.

"Hmmm, you're only a junior agent, that means you'll be serving me as my aide in battle." Antagony said.

Cataclysm bristled "Me? Serve you? I'll have you know, I was sent here to lead alongside you, not act as your servant!"

"Too bad, we outrank you, and I say, you act as my lieutenant." Antagony replied.

Cataclysm began to protest, before he cut himself off "Of course, Commander, how foolish of me to think otherwise."

"You're not fooling anyone, that trick won't work on me." Antagony said.

"Trick? No trick, I am merely realising that it is not my place to question my superiors."

"Nice try, but the only person to fall for that would be Scorponok." Antagony replied.

"Hey!" Scorponok cried out in protest.

"Anyway, make yourself useful and go see if you can find some Vehicon soldiers in Sector Kappa."

"At once, commander." Cataclysm said, before turning and flying off.

"Keep an eye on him Jetstorm, I don't trust him in the slightest." Antagony said, not taking her eyes off the figure of Cataclysm as he flew off.

"As you wish, my dear." Jetstorm replied, before he too left.

* * *

Elsewhere, a search was being carried out in order to find Cataclysm. Injector was flying alongside the Predacon dragonfly Skystorm.

"See anything yet, Skystorm?" Injector called out.

"Not yet, but is only a matter of time before we find that treacherous fool!" Skystorm called back, a smirk on his beast mode face.

"Yes, and then we can interrogate him and find out as much about the enemy as we can! Oh, how my spines yearn for the taste of blood!" Injector said, a malicious grin on his hideous face.

"I call dibs on his head!" Skystorm called out as he surged ahead.

"Hey, no fair! I already called it!" Injector cried as he struggled to keep up with the rapidly moving Skystorm.

* * *

On the ground, Rhinox, Tigatron, K-9, Retrax and Scavenger were also searching, all of them were in beast mode, with K-9 and Tigatron in the lead. Rhinox had not wanted to leave the base, Rattrap needed repairs desperately. He was still alive, for the moment, but he was deep in stasis lock, and in a critical condition.

"Tigatron, K-9, have you picked up his scent?" Rhinox asked, referring to Cataclysm.

"Not yet Rhinox, but we will, rest assured of that." K-9 replied as he searched for the scent of their traitor.

"And when we find him, he's shish kabob! Right?" Scavenger asked as he flexed his mandibles.

"No, we need to question him first, find out how much he knows..." Tigatron replied.

"And then make him shish kabob?" Scavenger persisted.

"No, then we lock him in a holding cell." Tigatron replied, unnerved at the lust for violence that Predacons displayed.

"Aw, you guys aren't any fun!" Scavenger exclaimed.

Retrax sighed "Y'know Scavenger, sometimes you even creep me out, and I'm the guy who sticks the corpses of my enemies onto the walls of my room."

Tigatron shuddered, he remembered such decal when he had been inside of Retrax's room to apprehend him for his supposed murder of Optimus Minor.

* * *

Far away, in the depths of space, the planet of Lakidon orbited its source of light and energy. However, it was not a sun, for theirs had burned out centuries ago. Instead, all of the planets in the system orbited a colossal device created to replace the sun. It was a massive ring like device, the outer ring covered in trillions of tons of a heat proof material, while the interior of the ring was covered in a number of heat producing generators which kept the last remaining remnants of the systems sun alive. The heat generators kept the salvaged magma from the star from extinguishing.

Lakidon was known as a peaceful planet with little in the way of weaponry. Now however, it was under siege.

"We're under attack!" A native cried, as high in the skies, Predacons dive bombed their opponents.

On the ground, thousands of others swarmed the soldiers who bravely, but vainly attempted to defend their homeworld.

In the emperor's palace, the emperor of Lakidon was locked in combat with the leader of the attacking forces: One of the original five Predacons, Razorclaw.

"Surrender, and I may allow you to serve as my pet!" Razorclaw said as he duelled the emperor.

"Never! We shall fight you with our very last breath!" The emperor said through gritted teeth.

"So be it." Razorclaw said as he twisted and dealt the killing blow "Pitiful."

Razorclaw removed his blade from the former emperor and strode up to the throne.

"Laserbeak, Buzzsaw, how goes the battle?" Razorclaw asked as his two closest lieutenants, and Soundwave's former minions flew into the room.

"Well my lord!" Buzzsaw said as he knelt in front of Razorclaw.

"Yes, we expect to the planet to fall within another four mega cycles. So far resistance has been minimal at best!" Laserbeak added.

"Excellent, when the battle is over, ship 15% of the slaves to the nearby moon, I wish to convert it into a weapons array." Razorclaw said.

"Very well my lord, and the others?" Buzzsaw asked.

"Dispose of 1% of the population to set an example, then have the rest build weapons factories across the planet." Razorclaw demanded.

"It shall be done, my lord." Laserbeak said, as he and Buzzsaw flew off to carry out their orders.

"And so another planet falls before the might of the Predacon V. Excellent." Razorclaw said as he seated himself down on the throne of his newly acquired palace.

* * *

And end of chapter 32. Well, what did you think? I certainly hope that you enjoyed it, even though it was mostly exposition. I hope fans of the original liked the appearances of Razorclaw, Laserbeak and Buzzsaw, who will return in the future at some point. Well, Cataclysm really is the traitor, and he's off to serve the Vehicons, although it seems that he hasn't stopped scheming. Will one of the search parties find him? And will Rattrap recover from his grievous injuries? I guess we'll have to check in next chapter to find out. Well, thank you so much for reading, I hope that you enjoyed it, and please don't forget to review. Thanks for reading, until the next chapter!


	33. The Warning

Hello, and welcome to yet another instalment of New Beast Wars, chapter 33. You know it, I know it, but I have to say it...I do not own Beast Wars, Beast Machines, IDW Comics, The Transformers or any characters that are associated with The Transformers...which is really quite a shame actually, because then, instead of Beast Machines, you'd have been watching this...oh well...Anyway, last chapter, Cataclysm was revealed to be the saboteur, but he managed to flee, forcing the Maximals and the Predacons to send out search parties. Will they succeed in capturing him, or will he elude their forces? I guess we'll just have to read on and find out! Ok, as usual, I hope that you enjoy this chapter, please don't forget to leave a review when you're finished reading and one more thing...Thanks for reading!

* * *

The Predacon Fuzor Injector had always been vain. Even before his conversion to the Predacon forces, when he had been the Maximal exploration officer known as Skydive, he had enjoyed staring into reflective surfaces. However, becoming a Predacon had only enhanced his already severe vanity, until Injector had become the Transformer equivalent of Narcissus. As he flew alongside Skystorm, looking for the Maximal traitor, Cataclysm, he managed to annoy his partner to no end.

"I can't wait until this search is over Skystorm, it will give me a chance to sit back, relax and allow others to admire my beauty!" Injector said as glided near the Predacon dragonfly.

Skystorm cringed and placed four of his six legs against his sound systems "Yes...yes, I heard you the first time. I get it, your beautiful, now will you shut up!" Skystorm said through gritted mandibles.

"Oh come now, surely you're not tired of hearing about me?" Injector asked.

"Actually, I'm very tired, we've been searching for that little turncoat for mega cycles now, my wings are tired, my optics have grit in them and my sound systems are nearly overloaded from hearing you talk about yourself!" Skystorm shouted in frustration.

"Well, there's no need to get snippy about it!" Injector replied defensively "Fine, I'll stop talking, but bear in mind, we'll have to search for Cataclysm without any form of entertainment!"

Skystorm balked "That's your idea of entertainment? Listening to yourself drone on and on?"

"And it's not a bad source of information if I do say so myself!" Injector said with a sniff.

Skystorm groaned, it was going to be a long flight.

* * *

Elsewhere, Cheetor and his group, comprising of Bantor, Vice Grip, Noble and Snarl were searching around the Polyhex area, the downbeat, half destroyed slums of Cybertron in their beast modes. While Bantor climbed up upon the structures of the nearby buildings in order to get a better view of the area, and Vice Grip scouted the air in robot mode, Noble and Snarl flanked Cheetor, who padded softly across the streets.

"Vice Grip, report." Cheetor commanded.

"Nothing yet Cheetor, the skies are clear." Vice Grip replied through his com link.

"Nothin' huh? Bantor, what about you?" Cheetor asked.

"Well, there's not a lot that I can see from up here, but from what I _can _see, there's a whole lot of nothing." Bantor said, his voice drifting through Cheetor's com link.

Cheetor sighed, it was becoming less and less likely that he and his forces would find his treacherous friend.

"Alright, we'll keep heading in this direction, Snarl, you go left, Noble, you stick with me." Cheetor ordered.

"On it boss!" Snarl said with a nod as he turned to carry out Cheetor's orders.

Noble glanced at Cheetor "Something on your mind?"

Cheetor sighed "It's just that...well, Cataclysm was my friend, I can't believe that he could join the Predacons...we were just like brothers..."

Noble nodded "I understand, I lost friends when the Vehicons came, good friends...I guess they're on the other side now..." Noble said, lowering his head.

"Yeah, if only Cataclysm were dead, I don't think it would hurt as much as the betrayal..." Cheetor replied.

"Perhaps you should think of Cataclysm as if he were dead Cheetor." Noble said.

"Huh?" Cheetor asked, a puzzled look on his face.

"He's one of the enemy now Cheetor. When the opportunity presents itself to you, will you hesitate merely because Cataclysm was once your friend?" Noble asked.

"I...I don't know..." Cheetor replied hesitantly.

"Sometimes, we have to do what we must, even if we don't want to." Noble replied.

"Oh yeah? Have you ever had to do that?" Cheetor asked.

Noble walked ahead of Cheetor "I'm doing something like that right now."

Cheetor tilted his head to the side, confused "Huh?"

"Hunting I mean. Frankly, I would rather be back at the base, overseeing this little chase, rather than participating in this manner. I'm not much of a fighter." Noble said, not turning to look at Cheetor.

"What are you talking about? You're a great fighter!" Cheetor exclaimed, remembering the way Noble had ripped the Vehicons to pieces earlier.

"I have many sides Cheetor, I'm a berserker, a coward, a leader and an intelligent, all rolled into one. Now tell me Cheetor, which one do you think I am?" Noble asked, still not facing Cheetor.

Cheetor thought about the question for a moment before he responded "I'd say you're pretty smart Noble. Now Savage on the other hand, he's a berserker."

Noble chuckled "Oh yes, he certainly is, there's no question at all about that." Noble turned and grinned at Cheetor.

Cheetor smiled back, before a sudden weakness overtook him. The smile faded from his cat like face, his knees buckled and he collapsed.

Noble gasped "Cheetor? Cheetor! Noble to Vice Grip! Noble to Vice Grip!" Noble cried as he tried to hale Vice Grip over his com link.

"This is Vice Grip, what's the problem Noble? You sound-" Vice Grip was cut off.

"Cheetor's dropped like a ton of energon cubes!" Noble exclaimed.

"What? Is it Vehicons?"

Noble shook his head instinctively, monetarily forgetting that Vice Grip could not see him "No! He just...fainted! You need to get down here right away!"

"I'm on it! Vice Grip, out."

Noble turned and looked at Cheetor "What happened to you?"

* * *

Not too far away, Injector and Skystorm were still flying around Cybertron. Now they too were beginning to lose hope that they would ever find Cataclysm.

"Argh! This is getting tiresome! What's say we head back to the base and forget about this whole thing?" Skystorm asked Injector.

Injector shook his head in response "Love to, really I would, but Optimus would kill us if we reported back early, and then there's what Magmatron might do to us!"

Skystorm shuddered, he didn't like to imagine what Magmatron would do to a pair of lazy little insects.

"Yeah, I guess you're right...but what if we were to just take a break on top of one of these buildings for a while? Say...ten cycles?" Skystorm suggested.

"Sounds like a plan to me! Last one to the tops a rusted Maximal!" Injector cried out as he shot ahead of Skystorm.

"Hey, no fair! Get back here you little-!" Skystorm called out as he chased after Injector.

Suddenly, a loud droning noise filled the air.

"Huh? Hey, Skystorm, you hear that?" Injector asked.

"Yeah...you think maybe it's Transquito?"

Injector shook his head "Can't be, he took Buzzclaw and Sky Shadow out to investigate the wrecking yard, that's nowhere near here!"

"Then...the only thing that it could be is..."

"VEHICONS!" The two cried out at the same time, as they flew up high enough to see an entire company of Aero drones.

"Alright! Finally, a chance to kill something!" Injector cried out in glee, before turning to Skystorm "Hey, aren't you gonna turn back into robot mode?"

"No need! Skystorm, Attack Mode!" Skystorm cried out as his wings folded back, and twin blasters popped out "Bring it on!"

The two flew forward at dizzying speeds, rushing to greet their foes. When they came within firing range, they noticed something...

"Hey, Injector!" Skystorm called out.

"Yeah Skystorm?" Injector replied.

"Ain't that Antagony and the quarry we were supposed to hunt down?" Skystorm asked.

"Cataclysm? Yeah, I think you're right!" Injector exclaimed.

"Well, I guess we found what we're lookin' for!" Skystorm said, ending with a wild bout of laughter.

* * *

At the head of the Aero drones, Antagony and Cataclysm were preparing to open fire on the two Predacons.

"Argh! I can't stand it anymore! When are we gonna slag those two creeps?" Cataclysm called out to Antagony.

"As soon as we see the whites of their optics!" Antagony called back.

"But their optics are nothing but white! Neither of them have pupils or anything!" Cataclysm shouted.

"Well then, I guess we can start firing! Drones, attack!" Antagony commanded.

Instantly, the drones obeyed Antagony's orders, opening fire on the two unlucky Predacons.

* * *

"Whoa! They're shootin' at us!" Skystorm exclaimed.

"Then shoot back!" Injector cried as he opened fire with his machine guns that doubled as his beast mode legs and his aqua stinger missiles.

Suddenly, a number of Aero drones erupted into burning fireballs as they took the blasts that Injector dealt. The more skilful and intelligent Antagony and Cataclysm managed to avoid them, but their front line of drones soon fell victim.

"Hey! Save some o' them for me!" Skystorm called out as he began firing into the masses of the Aero drones.

The two Predacons began expertly dodging the shots of their enemies as they fired back upon the drones. It was chaos as left and right, drones burst into flames and were sent careening into the ground.

"Haha! Oh yeah! This is great, eh Injector?" Skystorm asked as he sent another Aero drone plummeting to its doom.

"Sure, just don't get too cocky!" Injector replied.

"Aw, what's the worst that could happen?" Skystorm called out.

"Maybe this!" Cataclysm shouted as he blasted Skystorm.

"Argh! Why you stinkin' little-!" Skystorm spat.

"Or how about this?" Antagony cried as she rammed Skystorm, sending him spinning.

"Whoa!" Skystorm exclaimed as he careened into a nearby building, smashing through it.

"Well, that's one down, and only one to go!" Antagony smirked as she turned to face Injector.

"Hey, I ain't goin' down without a fight!" Injector exclaimed as he opened fire on the sneaky little ant.

"Too slow! You'll have to do better than that!" Antagony taunted as she easily dodged Injector's blasts.

"And don't forget about me!" Cataclysm shouted as he flew past Injector, attempting to disorient him.

"Hey! Stand still you little creep!" Injector cried out as he fired more missiles.

"Eyes in front!" Antagony shouted as flew in front of Injector and kicked him in the face.

"Argh! My face! My beautiful face! That does it, I'm pullin' out all the stops!" Injector spat.

"Wha-?" Cataclysm began, before Injector turned and blasted him with all six of his machine guns, giving Cataclysm heavy damage.

"How 'bout a taste of that?" Injector shouted, before turning to look for Antagony.

"Over here!" A voice from behind called out.

"What? Where are you?" Injector called out as he whirled around.

"Behind you!" Antagony called out again.

"Argh! Show yourself coward!" Injector shouted out in frustration as he whirled around again.

"I'm right behind you!" A more masculine voice said.

"Huh?" Injector half turned, only for Cataclysm to fly up and grab him, pinning his arms.

Antagony floated down in front of Injector and laughed "What a fool to have fallen for such a simple trap!"

Injector cursed, how could he have fallen for it?

"And now to finish you off! Cataclysm, hold him while I take care of him!" Antagony ordered.

"Hey, remember, save some for me!" Cataclysm said.

"Hmmm, we'll see." Antagony said, before she began pummelling Injector.

"Urk!" Injector exclaimed as Antagony's powerful fists flew into his spark compartment and stomach.

"Don't look behind you!" A third voice called out.

"Huh?" Antagony asked, turning to see where the voice had come from.

"Argh!" Cataclysm cried out, letting go of Injector, before falling onto a rooftop.

"What? Who dares?" Antagony shouted "Show yourself coward!"

"I dares!" Skystorm called out "Skystorm, Terrorize!"

And with that, Skystorm returned to his robot mode and levelled his gun at Cataclysm.

"Well, it looks like you're outgunned!" Injector said with an arrogant smirk.

Cataclysm groaned "Hey Antagony, can we please go now? My servos really hurt, I don't think I can keep this up!"

"No! We'll go when I say we can! Besides, I'm still more or less undamaged!" Antagony said.

"Wanna bet?" Injector said as he fired an aqua sting missile at Antagony, hitting her.

Antagony began writhing and screaming as the toxin within the missile quickly took effect, draining her of her energon.

"Oh yeah! Now to finish em'!" Skystorm said with a grin.

"Uh...maybe you're right Cataclysm...maybe a retreat is in order..." Antagony gasped as she clutched her wound, exhausted from the sudden loss of energon.

"Good...idea..." The battered Cataclysm panted.

"Hey, you're in no shape to get by us!" Injector protested.

"Sure...about that?" Antagony asked, before activating her optic lasers and blasting both Injector and Skystorm.

Because she was not in optimum condition, the blasts didn't do a lot damage, but they were still powerful enough to send the two Predacons spiralling into a nosedive.

"Aaaahhhh!" The two yelled as they went hurtling to the ground.

"That's them taken care of...now...hurry up and get over here!" Antagony said as she turned and flew off.

"C-coming..." Cataclysm said weakly as he followed her.

* * *

On the ground, the injured duo of Injector and Skystorm lay in a heap.

"Hey, Skystorm?" Injector asked.

"Yeah Injector?" Skystorm replied.

"Do you think Optimus will let us take the rest of the day off so we can take a dip in the CR tanks?" Injector asked as he stared up into the sky.

"Primus, I hope so." The battle damaged Skystorm groaned, struggling to get up, before collapsing.

* * *

Meanwhile, Cheetor had since regained consciousness, and was surrounded by his fellow soldiers. Rhinox, Razorbeast and Optimus Primal had joined up with Cheetor.

"Are you alright Cheetor?" Rhinox asked.

"Uh, yeah, I think so..." Cheetor said groggily.

"Cheetor, do you know what happened?" Optimus questioned.

"Y-yeah...I had a vision, and let me tell ya Big Bot, it was a doozy!" Cheetor replied.

"Why, what happened in it?"

"I'm not sure exactly, but it was dark, real dark, and I heard someone laughing, then there was this femme screaming and finally I saw something...two things actually...One was one of those weird symbols, like the ones on the alien disc we found on earth...the other looked like...a bull's head..." Cheetor said uncertainly, struggling to remember exactly what he had seen.

"A bulls head? That could be Noctorro perhaps, or maybe Bonecrusher." Razorbeast offered.

"Maybe...all I know is, something big's going to happen soon Optimus...and I think...I think it's going to be bad..." Cheetor said hesitantly.

"Bad? Could it have something to do with Cataclysm?" Optimus asked.

"Hard to say...maybe, I just don't know. But I think we need to be more careful from now on Optimus." Cheetor said.

Optimus looked up "I think you may be right Cheetor, I think you may be right."

* * *

And, end of chapter 33. Well, what did you think? I hope that it was action packed enough to satisfy everyone, and contained a bit of drama. What about Cheetor's vision? What does it mean? Will we find out next chapter? Perhaps. I'll have the next update up as soon as possible. Anyway, I hope that you enjoyed the story, please don't forget to leave a review now that you've finished reading, and thanks for reading! Until the next chapter!


	34. The Return: Part I

Welcome, welcome to yet another instalment of New Beast Wars, chapter 34. Ok, once more, I do not own Beast Wars, Beast Machines, IDW Comics, The Transformers or any characters that are associated with The Transformers, and I doubt I ever will, but I'm obligated by law and Hasbro's team of lawyers slash mercenaries to state the obvious. Phew, anyway, last chapter, the Predacons Injector and Skystorm ran into the two traitors, Antagony and Cataclysm and victory seemed close at hand, until Antagony blasted the two and managed to limp back to base. Meanwhile, while having a spark to spark conversation with Noble, Cheetor had a vision, one that prophesized big things to come. Will the vision ring true? Let's find out today, in the newest exciting instalment of New Beast Wars! Also, don't forget to check out the prequel fic, Before the Beast wars, a series of tales about the crew of the _Axalon _before they crashed on Earth. Finally, on to the story, please enjoy!

* * *

He had been waiting a long time for this, and he had been anxious to do it, but he needed clearance from his superiors first. Now however, it seemed like he would have his chance to complete his primary assignment. He grinned, he would relish the chance to destroy those stupid fools, and he would enjoy himself too.

In the Decepticon Spire, the leaders of the Maximal/Predacon Alliance were gathered around a large, circular table. Rhinox had joined them, in order to discuss the condition of the injured Maximal officer Rattrap.

"How's he doing Rhinox?" A deeply concerned Optimus Primal asked.

"Well, he's in a stable condition Optimus, but he's still deep in stasis lock, and it looks like he'll stay that way for a long time..." Rhinox replied hesitantly.

"Bah, this is ridiculous! Why are we wasting our time, sitting around and discussing the condition of a slagged soldier? We should be discussing tactics against the Vehicon forces! They've been mobilising more than normal recently!" Magmatron exclaimed as he pounded his fists on the table.

"Hey! Who you callin' slagged, ya stinkin' Pred?" A familiar voice asked.

Optimus gasped "Rattrap?"

"The one and only! Rhinox patched me through into the base's systems, so's I could talk to ya. Hang on, I think I can activate a hologram of yours truly..." Rattrap said, before a translucent blue hologram of his head popped up, hovering a few inches over the centre of the table.

"This is remarkable Rhinox! You have truly outdone yourself this time!" Razorbeast remarked in wonder, as he stared at Rattrap's image.

"Thank you, but I'm afraid I'm still a long way from actually repairing Rattrap." Rhinox said.

"Well, I'm just glad to still be functioning! And 'sides, this ain't so bad, I can be anywhere I want from in here...including Blackarachnia's quarters, man, you should see what she and Silverbolt get up to!" Rattrap said with a chuckle.

"Rattrap!" Rhinox exclaimed, partly in shock, partly in horror.

"Hey, I was just yankin' your chain, come on, you wouldn't really believe that I would do that, would ya?" Rattrap asked.

There was a brief pause, before Rhinox said "I'm restricting your access away from personal quarters."

"Hey! I said I was kidding! What, don't ya believe me?" Rattrap asked.

"Frankly, with you it's hard to tell!" Razorbeast muttered.

"I heard that!" Rattrap said, turning to face his Second in Command.

"Ahem" Magmatron butted in "Now that we've gotten the problem of Rattrap out of the way-"

"Hey, who you calling problem scale face?"

"I think we need to attend to more pressing matters." Magmatron concluded.

"Hmmm, perhaps he's right Optimus, we have been spotting more Vehicons than normal in certain sectors." Razorbeast pointed out.

Optimus sighed "Alright, Rhinox, Rattrap, would you mind leaving us?"

"At once Optimus." Rhinox said with a slight bow of his head.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever you say o' fearless leader!" Rattrap said snidely, before his image flickered out.

"All right, now, we need to decide what to do about the Vehicons." Razorbeast said.

"Isn't it obvious? We launch a full frontal assault and wipe them out while the majority of their forces are still scattered!" Magmatron said, once again hitting the table.

"I don't think that would be very wise Magmatron, even in their weakened state, the Vehicons outnumber us a hundred to one." Optimus pointed out.

Magmatron scowled "Oh? Then what would you have us do then? Wait for them to strike?"

"No, in fact, I've already begun to deal with the problem." Optimus revealed.

"Oh really Optimus? How?" Razorbeast asked, leaning forward in his seat.

"I've sent a pair of scouts out to investigate the area containing the most Vehicon activity, with any luck, they should be able to discover what they're planning." Optimus explained.

* * *

In Sector Omega, Dinobot and Noble made their way to their destination, the Vehicon encampment, where they were to spy on the Vehicons and learn of their plans.

"Bah! It is rare when I agree with a Predacon, but for once I believe that Magmatron is right! We should be facing these Vehicons head on!" Dinobot snarled.

"You know how badly they've got us outgunned and outnumbered Dinobot, it would be suicide to attack them!" Noble protested.

"Perhaps, but it would be a glorious way to die, facing your enemies in combat, as wave after wave rush to meet you, until only one alone stands the victor, the other defeated and crushed!" Dinobot exclaimed.

"Yeah, sure, just...just leave me out of it, ok?" Noble asked.

"Hmmm...Strange, I sense something, something...familiar..." Dinobot said, sniffing the air as he did so.

"Never mind that now, we've arrived!" Noble hissed, pointing out the Vehicon camp.

Noble and Dinobot stood atop a ridge, overlooking their enemy. Within the camp stood Antagony, Jetstorm, Thrust, Scorponok and the treacherous Cataclysm.

"When are we going to move? I yearn to eviscerate those Maximal fools!" Jetstorm asked, raising his clawed hands.

"Patience Jetstorm, not much longer now, we only have to wait a few more mega cycles!" Thrust exclaimed.

"Well, the sooner the better, I wish to get rid of those Maximals and the Predacons as much as the rest of you, perhaps more." Antagony added.

"Yeah, and I've got a little score to settle with my good buddy Rider!" Cataclysm grinned, revealing his fangs as he did so.

"Scorponok, do you wish to say anything?" Antagony asked, turning towards the Predacon.

"What? Oh, um...no, nothing...excuse me, I have to attend to...other matters..." Scorponok said, not looking the others in their optics.

"Useless fool." Jetstorm muttered.

* * *

While the others were busy conversing amongst themselves, Scorponok scurried away from the others. While they were busy planning their attack, Scorponok planned to visit his leader. Making sure that no one had seen him, Scorponok ducked into his tent and looked to his source of courage. There, chained to the wall, was the corpse of his fallen leader, Megatron.

"Oh, lord Megatron, I know that no matter what Terrorsaur and the others say, you would never betray or dispose of me, right?" Scorponok asked the lifeless body with the gaping hole in its chest "No, of course not."

* * *

Back at the camp, the other Vehicon leaders were still talking, until Antagony silenced them.

"Wait, someone is listening to our conversation!" Antagony exclaimed, raising a hand to silence the others.

The three of them looked up. Noble and Dinobot managed to duck out of sight, just in time.

"Aero drones, scout the area!" The two heard Jetstorm command.

"What do we do now?" Noble whispered to Dinobot.

"We fight!" Dinobot hissed.

"Yeah, we could do that...or, we could make a strategic retreat?" Noble suggested.

Dinobot snarled "Retreat? Retreating is for cowards!"

Suddenly, a shot hit a patch of ground not too far from Dinobot's head. The pair looked up to see Jetstorm and Cataclysm looming over them, suspended in the air.

"They're they are! Come on Jetstorm, let's get 'em!" Cataclysm said with a sneer as he reloaded his weapon.

"Listen kid, around here, I don't take orders, I give 'em! Get after them!" Jetstorm ordered, striking Cataclysm as he did so, before turning to the still land bound Antagony "Are you coming, my sweet?"

"Sure, just give me a minute here to get Scorponok!" Antagony called out.

"Alright my dear but hurry because...hey, where'd they go?" Jetstorm asked, failing to spot Noble and Dinobot.

"Oh, you stupid slagger! You let them get away!" Cataclysm snarled.

"Me? You were supposed to be guarding them!" Jetstorm retorted.

Antagony rolled her optics "Oh for the love of-! Thrust, go get that idiot Scorponok! Jetstorm, Cataclysm, follow me!" Antagony commanded before flying off after the two Maximals.

"Coming my dear!" Jetstorm called after her.

"What was that about not following orders?" Cataclysm sneered.

"Oh, shut up!"

* * *

"We've got to get back to the base and warn the others!" Noble panted as he ran alongside Dinobot.

"Indeed! We must not allow the others to be blindsided by a sneak attack!" Dinobot responded.

From out of nowhere, The Vehicon trio of Antagony, Jetstorm and Cataclysm flew in front of the pair.

"Going somewhere Maximals?" Antagony asked as she levelled her weapon at Dinobot.

"Quick, to the east!" Dinobot commanded, making a sharp turn in time to avoid a blast from Antagony.

Dinobot and Noble turned and began weaving through the streets of Cybertron.

"Whew! I think we lost 'em!" Noble shouted to Dinobot.

Suddenly, a section of road was blasted away.

"What the-?" Dinobot asked, looking around to find the source of the shot.

"Surrender Maximals!" Thrust commanded, as he and a squad of Cycle drones drove along the adjacent road.

Dinobot snarled "Never Vehicon fool!"

Noble howled and tacked the nearest drone, sending it careening into a lamp post.

"Excellent work! But do not let your guard down, even for a second!" Dinobot told Noble.

"Sound advice Maximal!" A voice in front of them said.

"Scorponok! Prepare for combat! Dinobot, Maximise!" Dinobot exclaimed, transforming and brandishing his weapons.

"I've been waiting to get my revenge on you traitor!" Scorponok spat, before launching a missile at the pair.

Dinobot howled as the missile struck him, sending him flying. Although the explosion was close, it barely damaged Noble.

"Dinobot!" Noble yelled, rushing to his side.

"Noble...clowns to the left of us...jokers to the right...urgh..." Dinobot muttered, before succumbing to stasis lock.

"Unit Dinobot in stasis lock, activating internal repairs." Dinobot's built in computer stated.

"Well, it looks like it's time to fight!" Noble snarled, turning towards Scorponok, his eyes turning red.

* * *

A few cycles later, Optimus was becoming worried. Dinobot and Noble had still not reported back. What if he had sent them to their deaths?

"Optimus! Noble's at the main gates!" Tigatron exclaimed, bursting into the room.

"What? Just Noble? What about Dinobot?" Optimus asked.

"I'm...I'm afraid so Optimus, Noble just showed up on his own, badly injured." Tigatron replied.

Optimus cursed, he feared for Dinobot's safety, he could never forgive himself if something happened.

"Take to him!" Optimus commanded.

Tigatron nodded "As you wish Optimus."

The two walked until they reached the med bay. CR chambers lined the walls. Within them lay the injured, such as Manta Ray, Injector, Skystorm, Ramulus, Armordillo, Razorclaw, Night Glider and of course, the stasis locked Rattrap. Lying on a gurney, being attended to by Rhinox was Noble.

"Noble! Please, you have to tell me, what happened to Dinobot?" Optimus pleaded.

Noble groaned and half sat up, only to be pushed back down by Rhinox.

"Easy, you've taken a lot of damage, you're lucky not to be in stasis lock." Rhinox reminded Noble.

"Optimus...forgive me! T-there was nothing that I could do, there were so many of them!" Noble said, clutching at a bandaged wound.

"Noble, you need to tell me, what happened?" Optimus asked.

"We...we were surrounded...Scorponok, he blasted Dinobot! I lost control, I turned into Savage! He destroyed everything around us! When I came too, both the Vehicons and Dinobot were gone! I barely managed to limp back to base, I was so badly damaged...it must have been when I was Savage." Noble explained.

Optimus cursed "Noble, what do you think happened to Dinobot?"

"The Vehicons must have taken him with them! They said they were going to attack! They said t would be an all out assault! Optimus, you must go, you'll need all of your forces to repel them!" Noble pleaded, clutching at Optimus.

Optimus thought for a moment, should he search for Dinobot, or prepare for battle. Reason won out over loyalty.

"Slag!" Optimus spat, before activating his com link "Attention all Maximals! Attention all Maximals! Prepare for attack, all available personal report to the entrance!"

"Oh, thank you Optimus Primal! With any luck, we can defeat them before they amass to o large a force!" Noble said, struggling to sit up.

"We? No Noble, you're staying here!" Optimus ordered.

"What? No, I must help you! I am responsible for Dinobot's kidnapping!" Noble protested.

"You're too badly damaged Noble, you have to stay here!" Optimus said, pushing Noble back down.

"But-!" Noble began, until Optimus gave him a stern glance "Oh, very well! But I still think that I should be out there!"

"You'll have your chance to fight, but right now, you need time to recuperate." Rhinox said, patting Noble on the shoulder.

"Come on Rhinox, Tigatron, we should move out." Optimus said, turning to leave.

* * *

A few mega cycles later, Noble sat up and began looking around the base.

"Hello? Hello? Is anyone else here?" Noble called out, his questions met only with silence.

Noble grinned "Perfect."

Noble made his way to the command centre of the Spire, and activated all available defences within the base. A shield appeared to shield the spire, while autogun emplacements activated to shoot anything that came within range.

"Excellent!" Noble exclaimed, unaware that he was being watched.

"What in the Pits going on aroud here?" Rattrap asked himself.

* * *

And end of chapter 34. What's going on here indeed? What is Noble doing? Where is Dinobot? Will we find out next chapter? Possibly, we can only hope so. Well, I hope that you enjoyed it, I shall have another update up as soon as possible and some answers will be provided. Anyway, not that the chapter is, sadly, over, I hope that you enjoyed it, and would like to remind you to please write a review. Thanks for reading, until next chapter!


	35. The Return: Part II

Hello, and welcome to yet another chapter of New Beast Wars, chapter 35. Once again, I am forced to admit that I do not own Beast Wars, Beast Machines, IDW comics, The Transformers or any characters that are related to The Transformers...damn...Well, anyway, last chapter, Noble and Dinobot were out scouting a potential Vehicon site, only for the two to encounter trouble. During the escape, Dinobot was capture, and Noble only barely managed to limp back to base after fighting off the horde as Savage. When he returned, he warned the Maximals and their Predacon allies of the encroaching horde, before proceeding to visit the CR Chambers. Optimus Primal, believing that he could beat back the Vehicon forces before they amassed too large a force, formed an assault force that comprised of almost his entire garrison, save for his injured soldiers. However, almost immediately after his departure, Noble sprang into action, activating all of the base's defence systems, effectively sealing himself in! What will come of this? Tune in today to find out in the latest exciting instalment of New Beast Wars, chapter 35! Well, now that we have the exposition out of the way, it is time for just one more, final thing, please remember to enjoy the following story, don't forget to leave a review when you're finished and finally...thank you for reading!

* * *

Rattrap observed Noble's actions through the base's security cameras. He was perplexed at what exactly it was that Noble was doing. A short time ago, Noble had left the medical bay and waltzed into the control room, before activating all of the base's security systems, the shields, the auto guns, everything. What Rattrap could not figure out was why. What possible reason was there for this sudden, inexplicably strange behaviour?

"This is weird..." Rattrap muttered to himself "Maybe I should radio in with the boss monkey..."

* * *

Out in the streets of Cybertron, Optimus Primal, Razorbeast and Magmatron were leading their soldiers towards the last known location where Dinobot had been before his sudden capture. Suddenly, Optimus began receiving a transmission from Rattrap.

"Yes Rattrap, go ahead." Optimus replied to the communication.

"Hey Optimus, you order a total lockdown of the base?" Rattrap's voice drifted through the com.

Optimus frowned "What? Rattrap, can you explain-" Optimus began.

However, at that moment, he was cut off by the sound of a shot ringing out in the empty streets, coming dangerously close to blowing Bantor away.

"Vehicon ambush!" Buzzclaw exclaimed as he flittered about in the air.

"That's right Predacon!" Antagony sneered as she flew into sight "And it looks like you're totally surrounded!"

The Maximals and Predacons gasped and looked around. Antagony wasn't lying, they were indeed totally surrounded on all sides. Not only that, but Thrust, Jetstorm and Scorponok were also there to lend Antagony a hand in defeating their foes.

"Optimus? Yo, Optimus! What's going on?" Rattrap asked through the com link.

Optimus snapped out of his daze "Not now Rattrap, we've been ambushed! I'm going to have to end the transmission, whatever it is I'm sure that you can handle it!" Optimus exclaimed, before cutting the communication before Rattrap could respond.

"Maximals, charge!" Razorbeast cried, before transforming and rushing towards his enemies.

"Predacons, attack!" Magmatron bellowed as he split into his three components of Skysaur, Seasaur and Landsaur and Razorbeast began leading the charge of Maximals and Predacons in the direction of the Vehicon masses.

"Beast mode!" Optimus Primal cried out, before transforming into a gigantic Transmetal ape and joining both his men and his fellow soldiers in the charge. _I only hope that we all make it out of here_Optimus thought to himself as he leapt at a Tank drone.

* * *

Back in the Decepticon Spire, Rattrap was shocked by his sudden loss of communication.

"Oh man, what do I do?" Rattrap asked himself "Wait, I know! I can reactivate the guys in the CR chambers! They'll think 'o somethin'! Oh man Rattrap, you sure are a genius!" Rattrap praised himself, a broad grin on his face.

* * *

Darkness then voices.

"Wha-?" Razorclaw asked himself as he raised a claw to shield his optics as light flooded into his suddenly open CR chamber.

Judging from the level of noise in the med bay, he was not the only one awake.

"What's going on?" Razorclaw heard Manta Ray ask.

"I don't feel fully recharged..." Night Glider muttered.

"My wings ache...too much time in there...or not enough...either one, I don't really know..." Skystorm moaned as he stepped out of his CR chamber.

"What in the Pit is going on here? None of us are fully recuperated yet, hell, I'm only at 46% efficiency!" Ramulus exclaimed as he groggily stood up.

"Uh, you're up because I woke you up." A voice suddenly spoke up.

"What? Who said that?" Injector asked, looking around carefully for the source of the noise.

"Uh, it's me...Rattrap, remember? Good 'ol Rhinox was good enough to plug me into the base's systems." Rattrap explained.

"And are you the one who woke us up?" Armordillo asked

"Did someone invade the base or something?" Razorclaw asked.

"Uh...something like that...I guess..." Rattrap replied hesitantly.

"Rattrap, what happened?" Night Glider asked, his hand, slowly, cautiously moving to his sword, preparing for even the slightest signs of danger.

"The truth? I ain't got a clue, the others all ditched the base to rescue Chopper Face from the Vehicons and then Noble started jackin' the base for some reason! Now he's locked the whole place down and there ain't a damn thing me or anyone on the outside can do about it!" Rattrap exclaimed.

"Has anyone tried to open it from the outside?" Armordillo asked.

"Uh, no, not yet." Rattrap replied.

"Has anyone even shown up?" Armordillo persisted.

"Um...no..." Rattrap said hesitantly.

"Then how do we know that Noble simply hasn't locked down the base for security reasons? After all, we are the only ones left in the base, and not even in peak condition, so it would be only logical to conclude that this is a defensive measure. I'm sure that as soon as Optimus and the others return, Noble will simply deactivate the perimeter defences." Armordillo rationed calmly.

"Eh, easy for you to say! You didn't see the look on his face as he was doin' it! He looked...determined, man, like he was on a mission or somethin'." Rattrap said, replaying the scene in his head.

"Hmmm...tell you what Rattrap, why don't we go and ask Noble? We'll all head up to the control room and then we can have a nice little chat. How does that sound?" Armordillo asked.

"Well...I guess that is a better idea than confrontin' him alone...Ok, fine, we'll do that, but I'm tellin' ya, he's up to somethin'!" Rattrap exclaimed.

"Ugh, I despise talking." Ramulus muttered, crossing his arms and frowning.

"Heh, you sound like Blackarachnia!" Razorclaw told Rattrap with a snicker ""Oh, Noble is evil, Noble is out to get us" That's just paranoid."

Rattrap's image flew rapidly towards Razorclaw, suddenly coming to a halt a mere inches from Razorclaw's face. Razorclaw blinked in surprise at this sudden intrusion of his personal space.

"Hey Pred, shut your stinkin' cake hole! One thing I ain't is paranoid, capiche?" Rattrap asked, glaring down at Razorclaw.

"Capi-Capi...yes..." Razorclaw stammered, optics wide open.

Skystorm shook his head "Razorclaw, what are you so worried about? There's four of us and only three of them, not counting Rattrap, as he has no body, so to speak." Skystorm pointed out.

"Six actually" Manta Ray spoke up "We're with you too...What? No, of course we're with them! How can we not be?" Manta Ray suddenly began arguing with herself, or rather, one of her other personalities.

As the others stared at Manta Ray's confused ramblings, Injector shook his head "You know, maybe we shouldn't count her, I think she' more like a liability...you know, like a broken leg or something equally worthless."

"Ahem, I think we're getting off topic here, in case you've forgotten, we're supposed to be going up and talking to Noble, you know, asking him what's going on and all that jazz?" Night Glider reminded them.

As he leant against the wall, Ramulus rolled his optics at the group of quarrelling Maximals and Predacons.

"Perhaps I should lead?" Armordillo suggested as he took a step out of the infirmary, only to be roughly pushed aside by Injector.

"Oh no, hold on their Maximal, if any of us is going to lead, it's going to be me!" Injector said, pointing towards himself.

"Or, you know, it could be the strongest one...me." Ramulus stepped forward.

"Ha! You? You're not the strongest, you're confusing yourself for me!" Injector sneered at Ramulus

"Hey! You contradicting me Pred?" Ramulus snarled, leaning close to Injector.

"Well I sure as hell ain't afraid to fight you to find out!" Injector cried, glaring at Ramulus.

"Oh brother." Night Glider muttered, rolling his optics at the juvenile displays of his comrades.

"Who do you think will win? We think it'll be Ramulus...Yes, of course Ramulus! Who else?" Manta Ray asked one of her other voices.

Skystorm shook his head "Ramulus? Oh please! It should be obvious that Injector will win!"

* * *

"Huh?" Noble asked, turning his attention to a security monitor.

On the screen, the Maximal Ramulus was pressing his face against the face of the Predacon Injector, apparently in an act of challenge.

"Come on, right here, right now! Unless you're chicken!" Injector's voice drifted through the speaker systems.

"Chicken? Nobody calls me chicken ya ugly Pred! Nobody!" Ramulus exclaimed.

Noble looked into the image and growled. So, there were still some of those fools in the base where there? Well, he would just have to fix that.

"Because we all know what happens to fools, yesssss." Noble muttered to himself, before pressing a button on the control console.

* * *

Back in the hallway outside of the infirmary, Ramulus and Injector were still preparing to tear each other to pieces while the others stood around the pair and watched the scene unfold.

"Should we not do something?" Armordillo asked with concern "After all, are we not united now against a common threat?"

"Ah leave it' they're still injured, this probably won't even take long!" Skystorm said with a slight wave of his hand.

"Yes, and besides, it might be entertaining!" Manta Ray exclaimed with a sort of malicious glee.

"Jeez, you Preds have got some serious issues goin' on!" Rattrap muttered.

Suddenly, the lights went off, only to be replaced by the dim red glow of the emergency lights.

"What the-?" Night Glider began, before several loud noises cut him off.

"Whoa!" Manta Ray gasped as a burst of energy exploded near her feet.

"What's happening?" Skystorm asked in panic as he ducked to avoid a shot that barely missed his head.

"It's the auto guns! Somebody must have activated them!" Razorclaw cried before diving to the ground.

"Treachery! It must be Noble!" Ramulus exclaimed.

"Then it is all the more imperative that we reach the control room and stop him!" Armordillo said, before rushing down the hallway.

"Blast!" Razorclaw snarled in annoyance as he fired upon an auto gun, only for it to return fire.

"Come on!" Injector called out as he flew down the hallway, closely followed by Skystorm, who flitted about in random patterns, hoping to avoid the fire.

* * *

On the streets of Cybertron, the Maximals and the Predacons were still fighting off the Vehicon hordes. Vespid, Vice Grip, Spittor, Transquito, Sonar, Drill Nuts and Blackarachnia were pinned down behind a large pile of rubble while Antagony and some of her soldiers blasted at them.

"Blast! With all of this fire, I can't take off!" Vespid growled.

"Oh, zzzztep azzzide and let a real Predacon zzzzzhow you how it'zzzzz done!" Transquito said as he stood up when the Vehicons ceased firing to reload, before opening fire with his own assortment of weapons.

The Aero drones were quickly blasted to pieces, but Antagony managed to jump to the side and avoid the wild spray of blasts.

"Argh! Foolish Maximals, you cannot stop us!" Antagony cried.

"Hmmm, you know, this all seems strangely familiar..." Spittor murmured.

"What, you mean like that feeling? I forget what it's called...you can only say what it is in French..." Drill Nuts offered.

Blackarachnia rolled her optics "It's called déjà vu idiot!"

Drill Nuts jumped "Yes, that's it! That's the word! Is that it?"

Spittor shrugged "Yeah...I guess so...weird though."

* * *

Leading the charge was Optimus Primal, who barrelled towards the Vehicon forces while in beast mode.

"Keep moving! We must rescue Dinobot!" Optimus commanded, motivating his soldiers to press their attack.

Jetstorm moved to Antagony's side "This is not going well my dear, should we retreat?"

Antagony snarled "No! We will not retreat! We can win this! I know we can!"

"As you say, my dear..." Jetstorm replied, before turning and firing on the now airborne Vespid.

* * *

Back in the base, the Maximals and Predacons were still running down the halls, hoping to find the control room as quickly as possible.

"Argh! Where is it? We've been searching for ages now!" An extremely exasperated Razorclaw asked.

"Uh, not far...I think..." Rattrap replied.

"You think? You think? You're hardwired into the base, can't you look up the blueprints or something?" Razorclaw snapped.

Rattrap blinked in surprise, that had not occurred to him.

"Uh, yeah, sure, I can do that!" Rattrap said, screwing up his face in concentration "Aha! Got it!"

Instantly, a 3-D image of the spire flickered into being, and the others studied it carefully.

"Alright, we should be...here!" Ramulus exclaimed, jabbing a finger at their approximate position "It looks like Rattrap was right, we're not far now!"

"But can we really take down Noble by ourselves? None of us are in peak condition, and there's no telling what might happen if Noble were to change into Savage." Armordillo pointed out.

"He's right, this may be trouble." Night Glider agreed.

"Hmmm, actually, there might still be someone in the base who's still in functioning condition..." Rattrap muttered.

* * *

In the Spire's detention level, Onyx Primal sat in his cell, hands in his lap, optics aimed solely at his feet. Suddenly, the energy bars that kept Onyx from leaving his cell flickered and died, causing Onyx to look up suddenly.

"What?" Onyx asked himself.

"Yeah, that was me." Rattrap said, suddenly appearing before Onyx Primal.

"You? Wait, aren't you that Maximal who was damaged?" Onyx asked.

"Yeah, that's me, but they managed to install my core conscious into the base while my body's being repaired. Look, that ain't important now." Rattrap explained.

"Then what is important? It must be serious for you to let me out." Onyx observed.

"Oh it is, very serious! One of us has turned and betrayed us and now we need your help to finish him!" Rattrap told Onyx.

"Oh? And who would it be? Magmatron? Novascream? That gigantic Maximal amalgamation of fish and beast?"

"What? If you're talking about Torca, a whale ain't a fish! But no, it ain't him, it's Noble..wait, who's Novascream?"

"Noble? The one who transforms into a dragon?" Onyx asked in a dull and listless voice.

"Yeah, that's the guy! Can you help us or not?" Rattrap questioned.

There was a brief pause as Onyx considered it, before he replied "Yes, I believe that I can, give me your coordinates and I'll rendezvous with you as soon as I retrieve my weapons."

"Weapons? We got plenty of weapons with us! Just hurry on over here!" Rattrap protested.

However, Onyx shook his head "My kukris are not just my weapons, they are extensions of my body, fractions of my spark, I must have them back."

Rattrap sighed "Fine, just hurry the hell up!"

* * *

Back outside, the battle was going very badly for the Vehicons, much of their number had been decimated and now they were falling back.

"Antagony! I we are to survive then we must retreat!" Jetstorm cried,

"Just a little longer!" Antagony protested as she opened fire on Sky Shadow.

"There's no time! Our operative can deal with them, but we must flee, now come on!" Jetstorm commanded, grabbing Antagony by the arm and dragging her off.

"They're retreating sir, it looks like we've won the day!" Snarl exclaimed.

Optimus shook his head "Not yet, we still need to find Dinobot before we can consider this day won."

The group rushed towards the now abandoned Vehicon encampment, as began turning the base upside down in search of their missing friend.

"Sir!" Drill Nuts cried out "Over here! I think I found him!"

Optimus and Cheetor rushed towards Drill Nuts' position, finding him standing in front of a wall, upon which Dinobot was chained.

"Does he function?" Optimus asked, dreading the answer.

"Yes sir, he's injured, but he should pull through in any case." Drill Nuts replied.

Cheetor sighed in relief "Well, that's something to be thankful for, eh Big Bot?"

Optimus looked into the distance "I guess so Cheetor, but I can't shake this strange feeling of foreboding.

Cheetor shrugged "Eh, it'll probably pass soon enough. Let's get back to base, I'm sure Noble will want to hear that Dinobot's safe."

* * *

Back in the base, Onyx had since met up with the others and they were now waiting outside of the control room.

"Alright, do we have a plan?" Onyx asked.

"Get in, blast Noble, hope he doesn't go dragon on us and deactivate the defences, how's that for a plan?" Razorclaw asked.

Onyx sighed "Well, perhaps there is something to be said for its simplicity."

"It had better work, we would rather not meet the dragon, would we?" Manta Ray asked, seemingly to herself.

Onyx stared at her for a moment "...Right...in any case, we open the door on three, got that?"

The others nodded.

"Good, on three...one...two...THREE!" Onyx exclaimed, as he and Ramulus forced the door open.

Onyx and Ramulus shifted into beast mode and flew into the room, closely followed by the others.

"Surrender Noble!" Ramulus commanded as he faced the treacherous Maximal.

"I think not my foolish friend!" Noble said, a grin on his face as he began convulsing.

Armordillo gasped "He's transforming!"

"Then that means...he has control over it!" Onyx exclaimed as he clung to the wall as an oversized vampire bat.

"Very astute! Yes, it's true, I've always had control, I just pretended that I couldn't to gain your sympathies, and it worked!" Noble/Savage boasted as his transformation began to conclude.

"Quick, while he's still transforming! Onyx Primal, Terrorize!" Onyx called out as he flew towards Noble/Savage and slashed him in mid transformation.

"Ugh!" Noble grunted as he suddenly reverted back "Coward! You fear me? You fear my power?"

"No, I'd just rather make this easier!" Onyx replied, slashing at Noble with one of his kukris.

"Argh! My hand!" Noble cried out in pain as Onyx severed Noble's left hand.

"Ready to surrender?" Onyx asked, raising his blades defensively.

"Never!" Noble cried out, lashing out at Onyx with his good hand.

In response, Onyx sidestepped and cut into Noble's back.

"Pitiful." Onyx said with a sigh.

"Argh! Why you arrogant little-!" Noble began, turning to face Onyx, only to receive a slash to the torso.

"It really is a shame that you're..." Onyx trailed off as he stared into Noble's chest "No..."

The cut to the torso had revealed Noble's spark chamber. However, inside, there was not a single spark, but four.

Noble chuckled at this revelation "Yesssss, I hold the sparks of four of the greatest warriors, Maximal and Predacon alike. I have all the intelligence of Rhinox, the raw strength of Megatron, the cunning of Starscream and...the regenerative powers of Rampage!" Noble said with a smirk.

Onyx gasped as Noble's wounds began healing themselves "No way..."

"Yes!" Noble cried triumphantly as he sent Onyx flying with a backhand.

"He's in trouble! Attack!" Ramulus exclaimed as he charged Noble, catching him off guard.

"Ugh! Nice try, but it will take more than that!" Noble gloated.

Suddenly, Razorclaw, Night Glider, Manta Ray, Armordillo, Injector and Skystorm joined the fray, all opening fire on Noble.

"Quickly! Before he can regenerate!" Night Glider shouted as he tore into Noble's pelt with his optic lasers.

"Argh! You...cannot...fire fast enough!" Noble roared as he charged them.

"Whoa!"

"Ugh!"

"Oof!"

Skystorm, Injector and Armordillo had been placed into stasis lock by the collision, while Manta Ray, Razorclaw and Night Glider barely managed to stay on their feet.

"Warning: Stasis lock imminent, advise immediate retreat." Nigh Glider's onboard computer advised.

"Override!" Night Glider snarled.

"Acknowledged." The computer replied.

Noble laughed "Is this really the best you can do? I'm disappointed, truly I am."

"Let's see...if you can handle...this!" Nigh Glider cried as he threw his sword straight through Noble's chest.

Noble took a step back, before laughing "Did you really think that your sword could stop me? Fool!" Noble chuckled as he began removing the sword.

"Maybe not his, but mine can!" Onyx exclaimed as he leapt toward Noble, both kukri's raised, impaling Noble through his spark compartment.

Noble looked down "Ha! Again? Why should it work the second time?" Noble asked.

"Because my blades are lined with raw, crystalline energon!" Onyx revealed.

Noble gasped and looked down. His spark compartment was now sparking and smoking like crazy. He ripped the blades out of his chest and staggered back.

"No! I can't-! I am invincible!" Noble cried, before his spark compartment exploded, scattering pieces of Noble everywhere.

"Look!" Rattrap gasped, and the others turned to see what he was staring at.

The sparks that were within Noble floated in the air for a moment, before scattering.

"I wonder where they'll go?" Night Glider muttered, before entering stasis lock.

* * *

Just outside of the Spire, the Maximals and Predacons had returned with Dinobot in tow. Suddenly, four bright lights shot out of the building.

"What in the name of Primus?" Rhinox asked, before one of the lights rushed towards him, flying straight into his chest "Ugh!"

"Rhinox! What happened?" Optimus asked, the concern evident in his voice.

"I feel...complete..." Rhinox murmured as he stood up "Not only that, but more powerful than ever!"

A second light floated down, before taking shape.

"Rampage?" Optimus gasped.

"Yes Optimus, it is me." Rampage said as he stood in front of the others "I was captured and put into a very dark place, but now I am free, free to join the Matrix...I have been redeemed."

"But how is this possible? You were taken by Thrust!" Optimus exclaimed.

Rampage turned to him "That was so, and I joined others in a place of torment, we knew no peace, but now we are free...I thank you Optimus Primal for your part in my redemption, farewell."

And with that, his image faded slowly, until there was nothing left.

* * *

In the Vehicons second encampment, the battered and injured generals trudged slowly.

"Ugh, I ache all over..." Thrust moaned.

"So much pain..." A smoking and charred Cataclysm said.

"I can't feel my treads..." Scorponok muttered.

"We could have won! We should not have retreated!" Antagony shrieked.

"Please, calm down." Jetstorm attempted to assuage his dear Antagony, but to no avail.

"Bah! The only solace I can find is that I am still functioning!" Antagony snarled.

"Oh, but are you?" A new voice asked.

"What? Who's there?" Antagony asked, a chill passing through her frame.

"Just an old friend." The voice said as he stepped out of the shadows.

Scorponok gasped "Megatron! You live!"

Megatron scowled "Indeed I do, no thanks to the traitor!"

Antagony felt cold all over "Traitor? Megatron, surely you can't mean-" Antagony began

"Oh, but I do mean you! You tried to kill me! You even succeeded, in a way. You stuffed me into a blank protoform with all those others!" Megatron snarled.

"No! I-!"

"Silence! Perhaps once I would have allowed you to live, back on Earth, but I have changed now, yesssss, because unlike all the others who have tried to overthrow me, Terrorsaur, Quickstrike, Tarantulas, you came dangerously close to succeeding! For that, there can be no mercy!" Megatron said with a scowl as he raised his cannon.

"Wait! No Megatron, please-!" Antagony pleaded.

"The time for mercy is over." Megatron said, before firing.

Antagony screamed in pain as she was incinerated by the blast. What took mere seconds seemed like an eternity for her. Finally, the blast ceased and Antagony's charred corpse collapsed into a heap.

"No!" Jetstorm cried, rushing to Antagony's side "Please, you can't be!"

"Get rid of the garbage Jetstorm, or else I shall have to dispose of you too! I can see that we have much work ahead of us, yesssss." Megatron muttered as he walked away from the sobbing Jetstorm, the awed Scorponok, the horrified Thrust and the smirking Cataclysm.

* * *

And end of chapter 35. Well, first of all, I would like to apologise for the lateness of this chapter, I've just had so much stuff going on that I haven't had as much time to work on it as I'd like, unfortunate obligations and such. Anyway, I hope that you enjoyed the following chapter, twice as long as a regular one to make up for its tardiness, plusw a lot of important stuff happened. Oh, and Drill Nuts is a seperate character from Drill Bits. So once again, I hope that you enjoyed it, please remember to leave a review and finally...thanks for reading! Until the next chapter!


	36. The Phantom

Hello, and welcome one and all to yet another instalment of New Beast Wars, chapter 36. As usual, I am forced to admit that I do not own Beast Wars, Beast Machines, IDW Comics, The Transformers or any of the characters that are associated with The Transformers...shame about that, but oh well. Anyway, last chapter, a huge battle occurred between a small handful of Maximals and Predacons and a powerful, malicious and dangerous enemy within their own base occurred. Who was this enemy? Read the last two chapters to find out, I'm not revealing it here! Anyway, some things happened and it ended with the return of Megatron, the final death of Rampage and the mysterious disappearance of Starscream, which some readers cleverly picked up on, props to you...whatever that means. Well, that just about does it for the introduction, so I suppose I had better get on with the actual story...hmmm, but first, I have to say this...Thank you for choosing Ultimos-11 stories, we hope that you enjoy the following story presented here, don't forget to leave a review when you're finished and finally, thank you for reading! On to the story then!

* * *

At the Decepticon Spire, the Maximals and the Predacons were standing around the smoking remains of Noble, a gaping hole in his chest. Not far away were the heavily injured Night Glider, Razorclaw, Onyx Primal and Manta Ray, the stasis locked Armordillo, Injector and Skystorm and a holographic image of Rattrap's head.

"Noble...Noble was a traitor?" Optimus Primal murmured, staring down at his former ally's corpse.

"Isn't he about the fourth one?" A perplexed Terrorsaur asked "Seriously, how do we keep falling for this?"

"Ha! I knew it!" Blackarachnia cried triumphantly.

"He wasn't just a traitor Optimus, he was Megatron, Rampage, Rhinox and Starscream all combined into a single entity." Razorclaw explained.

"Incredible...they managed to upload four different sparks into a single protoform! It's never been done before, the risks were too great, but it seems that it can be done! It is indeed possible" Rhinox exclaimed in wonder.

"Yeesh, ya know Rhinox, you seem awfully proud to know that a part of you was in that jerk, takin' pot shots at us!" Rattrap piped up.

"I'm impressed that four sparks combined could actually form a sapient being, it's fascinating, even if it is somewhat morbid." Rhinox clarified.

Optimus sighed "Well, now that we've settled this, we need to get back to hunting down the remaining Vehicons. Rhinox, Insecticon, Drill Nuts, Noctorro, can you take Dinobot, Armordillo, Injector and Skystorm to the med bay? Night Glider, Razorclaw, Onyx Primal, Manta Ray, I assume that you can get there unassisted?" Optimus asked.

The group answered in the affirmative and walked off.

Optimus sighed, now that yet another fiasco had been effectively avoided, it was now time to get back to the real mission, tracking down the remaining Vehicons. With Megatron dead, it was now just a matter of finding and capturing Thrust, Jetstorm and the traitors Antagony and Cataclysm. They were the last remaining barriers that stood in their way of saving Cybertron.

Or so he thought.

* * *

In the Vehicon encampment, Megatron was sitting on a throne, watching as Scorponok set up a mad of the surrounding area and highlighting key locations that would serve well as bases.

"...And as you can see here lord Megatron, the Cybertronian zoo and botanical gardens would make an excellent base, providing we removed the animals of course." Scorponok said, pointing out the building on the map.

Megatron however, was not convinced "I am not constructing a base in a zoo! No, instead, I believe we shall go to the Pit, we can rebuild it, make it larger and capable of churning out ten times as many Vehicons as before!" Megatron exclaimed, standing up from his throne.

"An excellent idea Megatron! I'll have the others set out for the Pit at once!" Scorponok gushed, before calling out to the others "Thrust! Jetstorm! Cataclysm! Get in here, Megatron need us!" Scorponok bellowed.

The others quickly entered the room, Thrust leading them, while Jetstorm sullenly trailed behind him and Cataclysm, still brooding over the death of his beloved Antagony.

"I have called you here in order for you to go out to the Pit and oversee it's reconstruction, I'll need all of you to go for this, understood?" Megatron asked.

"Yes sir." Thrust answered.

"As you wish Megatron." Cataclysm replied.

"Whatever..." Jetstorm muttered.

Megatron frowned "Are you still brooding over the death of that treacherous little ant?" Megatron asked, glaring at Jetstorm with contempt "How pathetic, she was weak, and if you don't snap out of your little slump, then I can promise that you will join her!"

Jetstorm sighed and looked up at Megatron "Now? Somehow I doubt that, we're your only remaining Drone Generals, you can't afford to kill any of us, no matter how much you want to. Besides, at this point, I would welcome the sweet embrace of oblivion..." Jetstorm said, glancing sadly at Megatron.

Megatron scowled "Don't push your luck Jetstorm, I have already proven that I am completely ruthless, and besides, I can always make more generals, it wouldn't be hard...But, if you wish to die so much, perhaps I will allow you to suffer a little longer!"

Jetstorm looked down, miserable "Yes lord Megatron."

Cataclysm giggled in sadistic glee, only to freeze when Megatron turned to gaze at him.

"Remind me again who you are?" Megatron asked, narrowing his eyes at Cataclysm.

"Uh, Cataclysm sir, I worked briefly as a Predacon spy from within the Maximal base, before my cover was blown, now I only live to serve you, oh mighty Megatron!" Cataclysm snivelled.

Megatron expressed no emotion "Just like Antagony?"

Cataclysm shivered visibly "Uh, yes sir...just like...Antagony..." Cataclysm answered hesitantly.

"Well, I hope that you fare better than her, perhaps you've learned from her mistake of betraying me?" Megatron asked.

"Uh...yes, sir" Cataclysm said meekly, shrinking slightly in his leader's presence.

"Good, now go." Megatron commanded.

The three of them quickly left, fearing Megatron's wrath. Scorponok made to follow them, but Megatron raised his hand to signal Scorponok to stop.

"Not you, I need you by my side Scorponok, I am still weak from my time in that pathetic creature Noble." Megatron told his second in command.

"Nothing would please me more than to stay by your side, lord Megatron!" Scorponok replied, unable to contain his glee.

* * *

Meanwhile, Scavenger, B'Boom and Stinkbomb were patrolling the streets of Cybertron, looking for any more Vehicons to scrap.

"Any sighting yet?" B'Boom asked as he walked along, weapons at the ready in case of an ambush.

"Negative, quiet as a tomb in here." Stinkbomb replied as he walked on a narrow beam connecting two buildings.

"Yeah, I got nothing either." Scavenger replied as he scurried along in Transmetal ant form.

"Damn!" B'Boom hissed "It's strange, we haven't had any sightings at all since Noble was destroyed, normally we're crawling in straggling Vehicons, so where did they all go?" B'Boom mused.

"No idea, maybe they're getting smart enough to hide when they see us coming?" Scavenger suggested.

In response B'Boom sighed and massaged his brow "Scavenger, that was a soliloquy, you weren't supposed to hear that."

"Oh...sorry." Scavenger replied in a confused tone of voice.

"Heads up guys, I'm picking something up on my motion sensors! Jeez, this thing is going wild, I'm picking up movement all over the Goldbug Building!" Stinkbomb exclaimed.

"Any sign of what they're doing?" B'Boom asked.

"No, I...wait...Jeez, the Vehicons are disappearing at an impossible rate!"

"What? What do you mean?" Scavenger questioned as he scurried closer to B'Boom.

"I mean they're off lining! But...the motion sensor isn't picking up any Maximal or Decepticon signals, only this weird flicker! Whatever's taking out the Vehicons is demolishing them!" Stinkbomb said in shock.

Scavenger turned his insectoid head to B'Boom "What do you think, should we check it out?"

B'Boom paused to think about it "We'll scout it out first, see what's going on, and engage if we have a good chance and once we figure out what's going on here."

Scavenger seemed to grin, despite having the expressionless face of an ant "Excellent! My mandibles itch for the chance to rend these Vehicons limb from limb!" Scavenger hissed, before taking off for the Goldbug Building.

B'Boom stared at the Predacon before following him _Strange beings, these Predacons..._ B'Boom thought.

* * *

From atop a building opposite the one on which the Vehicons were being slaughtered, Stinkbomb magnified his vision and tried to see what was going on, to no avail, the difference in building height was too great.

"What is going on up there?" Stinkbomb muttered to himself from atop his perch.

From his position, Stinkbomb could hear the sounds of explosions and see bursts of energy being shot off, but little more than that. He sighed and hoped that the others would be able to hand whatever was going on up there.

* * *

Scavenger slowly scaled the Goldbug building as B'Boom clung onto him as if he were some kind of beast of burden. Scavenger could have gone faster if not for the extra weight, but as B'Boom could neither fly nor climb the vertical wall which offered no handholds, Scavenger was forced to carry the Maximal explosives officer.

"Are we close?" B'Boom asked.

"Yeah...almost there...just a few...more...steps...There!" Scavenger exclaimed as he climbed onto the rooftop and witnessed a magnificent spectacle.

Both were completely shocked by what they saw.

It was complete and utter chaos as a number of Aero drones attempted to fight off a ghostly Seeker, who seemed to absorb any damage that he received, before retaliating with a pair of weapons on his arms.

"Use me will you? ! I'll show you what happens to those who dare to use the mighty Starscream as a mere pawn in their pathetic, twisted little games!" The apparition screamed as he shot down another Aero drone.

Scavenger and B'Boom glanced at each other in shock. Could this really be the legendary Decepticon warrior Starscream?

"Nobody has the power to wield my strength except me!" Starscream continued as he seemed to absorb a volley of fire from four airborne Aero drones, before he utterly destroyed them with quick bursts of fire from his Null Rays.

Scavenger turned to an astonished B'Boom "Should we...should we help him?"

B'Boom shook himself out of his daze "Yes, I suppose we should...Beast Mode!" B'Boom cried out as he transformed.

"Vehicle Mode!" Scavenger exclaimed, adding a pair of drills and tank treads to his ant like frame.

Together, the two leapt into the fray, joining Starscream as he decimated the Vehicon soldiers. Scavenger roared into their midst, ripping them to pieces with his drills and finishing off the wounded with his treads. B'Boom yowled as he tore an Aero drone's upper body off with his claws, before turning to see seven others all training their weapons at him.

B'Boom snarled "Artillery mode!"

Quickly, B'Boom's beast mode split apart, revealing dozens of concealed guns from within his body. The Aero drones looked shocked, and while they paused, B'Boom ripped their frame's to pieces with his fire. Soon, there was not a single drone left, and B'Boom and Scavenger turned to face Starscream's ghost.

"B'Boom, Maximise!"

"Scavenger, Terrorize!"

Starscream sneered at them as they transformed "And what do you want?"

Scavenger slowly approached Starscream "We witnessed what you did to those drones, and we are impressed..."

"So?" Starscream asked, venom dripping in his voice "Are you just going to admire my glory, or is there a point to all this, because I am very pissed off and I don't want to waste time talking to you when I could be out taking my revenge on those Vehicons!"

"We did help you." B'Boom pointed out.

"And I did not need your help!" Starscream snapped, glaring at the Maximal.

"Well...we were wondering...with your talents and fighting abilities...would you possibly consider...joining us?" Scavenger asked.

B'Boom asked "What? We were never-!" B'Boom began, only for Scavenger to cut him off.

"We were never going to come out here, but we heard rumours that a magnificent warrior was destroying Vehicons with a prowess never seen before!" Scavenger lied, hoping to butter Starscream up "We all live in awe of you and your skills!"

Starscream swelled visibly "As well you should, but I am not joining your little group! I am through with factions, they always lead to trouble!"

Scavenger thought for a moment, before replying "You know...we're hunting the Vehicons, if you worked with us, you'd have the technology to track them down as quickly as possible, plus, we can lead you to their leaders...And besides, you'd be surrounded by adoring fans who worship your very being...so, what do you say, will you join us now?" Scavenger asked.

Starscream pondered on the offer for a moment, before he answered "Very well, for the moment, I shall join you, but once I have carried out my vengeance, I shall discard you and your pathetic band of Autobot and Predacon offshoots...who knows, perhaps I will even destroy you to prove my power!" Starscream said with a sneer.

"Thank you! I assure you, you won't regret this!" Scavenger gushed, glad to have another Predacon in his group.

"Now, I'll need a body, I would rather not stay in this one, it reminds me of my past life too much..." Starscream murmured, before floating over to the least destroyed Aero drone and seemingly pouring into it as if he were smoke.

When the process was done, Starscream sat up in the drone's body.

"Wow..." B'Boom muttered, at a total loss for words.

"Ah, it feels so good to be corporeal again, perhaps it will stay that way this time!" Starscream said as he flexed his new fingers.

"This is so cool! Optimus will be so pleased when we get back!" Scavenger exclaimed, his eyes shining with expectation.

* * *

Later, back at the Decepticon Spire...

"YOU DID WHAT? !" Optimus could be heard shouting, his voice echoing throughout the base.

* * *

Meanwhile, at the Pit, Thrust was overseeing the reconstruction of the building, while Cataclysm flew overhead, directing the Aero drones. Jetstorm on the other hand, just floated and moped, pining for his dear Antagony.

"Soon...soon, it won't matter at all..." Jetstorm muttered to himself.

* * *

Elsewhere...

"Ah! It feels so good to be back! And, with those fools powering my spark, I am more powerful than I ever was before!" He gloated.

He ignored the faint groaning sounds and proceeded on his way.

"Quiet! As much as I love hearing you two pitiful fools in agony, I need a moment to think!"

He pondered for a moment, before reaching a conclusion.

"Ah, in order to succeed where the others have failed, I must go to Cybertron myself, with any luck, I might even be able to rid the universe of Megatron, once and for all! Yes, soon Megatron, I shall arrive, and we can settle what we started!"

And with that, he burst into a bout of maniacal laughter, drowning out the pitiful moans of the two damned souls.

* * *

And...end of chapter 36. Another lapse, sorry about that, but I've had so much stuff to do. Anyway, what did you think? I hope you enjoyed it in any case. Well, what will happen now that Starscream is one of the Maximal's? Will the Vehicons succeed in rebuilding the Pit? And who is this mysterious figure? Only time will tell, and who knows, maybe we'll find out next chapter! In any case, I hope you enjoyed it, please leave a review and finally...thanks for reading! Until the next chapter!


	37. The Insectrons vs Scorponok

Why hello, and welcome to yet another instalment of New Beast Wars, chapter 37. As per the usual, I do not own Beast Wars, Beast Machines, IDW Comics, The Transformers or any of the characters that are usually associated with The Transformers...but you probably knew that, no? Ok, well over the last two chapters, an incident within the Maximal base led to the resurrection of Megatron, due to the unintended intervention Onyx Primal, Rattrap, Manta Ray, Injector, Night Glider, Armordillo and Skystorm, he then set up the reconstruction of the Pit, in order to use it as his base of operations. Meanwhile, B'Boom, Scavenger and Stinkbomb managed to recruit Starscream's ghost (No! Not that one!) to their cause through promises of vengeance against the Vehicons, much to Optimus Primal's great displeasure. Well, I guess that just about does it in terms of summary, so I guess they're just one last thing left for me to do...Ahem, I hope that you enjoy the following fanfic presented here, don't forget to leave a review, and finally...thanks for reading!

* * *

In the Decepticon Spire, home to the Maximal and the Predacon forces, the leader of the ragtag group, Optimus Primal, sighed and massaged his temples as Scavenger, Stinkbomb and B'Boom stood before him.

"So, let me get this straight...you found Starscream engaged in a battle with a number of drones and then decided to assist, despite the fact that you told me that Starscream had the situation well in hand?" Optimus asked.

"Well, yes but he-" Scavenger began.

"And then, you proceeded to offer said Decepticon a place within our group?"

"Um...well that was mostly-" B'Boom started.

"AND, when he turned down the offer, you told him that he would have the opportunity to destroy the Drone Generals, with our full support?"

"Hey, I wasn't even-!" Stinkbomb was quickly cut off.

"What were you thinking?-! Did you even consider the potential security risks of brining a Decepticon into the base? What's more, Ravage and Grimlock inform me that Starscream was a notoriously unreliable backstabbing traitor who frequently tried to usurp Megatron's power!"

"We just did what we thought was best..." Scavenger offered meekly.

"Starscream's very presence puts us all in danger, you should have realised that when you brought him here...as a response to your reckless actions, I have no choice but to suspend you all from going on any further missions until further notice." Optimus told the trio grimly.

"But Optimus-!" Stinkbomb began to speak, only to be cut off once again.

"No buts, your actions leave me disappointed...you may go." Optimus told them, motioning towards the door.

As the three left, Rhinox walked in.

"Don't you think you were a little hard on them?" Rhinox questioned his leader as soon as the three soldiers had exited the room and closed the door.

Optimus sighed "Perhaps, but we're living in a warzone, you must always keep your guard up...look what happened to Rattrap for example..."

"And what shall w do about Starscream?"

"What can we do? None of us have the power to physically remove him from our base, he is a ghost, and I doubt that he would leave if we were to ask him...No, he has to leave of his own accord, or else he will not leave at all..." Optimus replied, looking tired.

* * *

Elsewhere, the New Insecticons were having a discussion regarding their title.

"Look, we're not saying that the New Insecticons is a bad name..." Scarem told Insecticon.

"Which it is." Scourge interjected as he leaned on his jewel encrusted walking aid.

"But it does seem a touch...egocentric..." Scarem finished.

"Egocentric?" Insecticon scoffed "Oh come on, I think you guys are just being ridiculous!"

"I'm not so sure that we are..." Scarem told his comrade.

"Ok, if I was being an ego freak-which I'm not-then what name would you suggest?" Insecticon asked.

Scarem paused to think about that, before answering "How about the Insectrons? It's not too far from the original, but it still sounds cool."

Insecticon sighed "Oh, alright, fine! But you two seriously owe me for this!"

"I owe no one nothing." Scourge replied.

"Uh, yeah, sure...whatever..." Scarem answered apprehensively.

"Right, stupid decisions aside, I move that we now focus on my-Argh!" Scourge yelped as he toppled sideways.

Insecticon had kicked his staff out from under him.

* * *

At the Pit, Megatron was surveying the reconstruction effort.

"Bah! You fools are moving much too slowly! I command you to pick up the pace and go!" Megatron bellowed.

Thrust muttered something incomprehensible under his breath, to Jetstorm, it sounded something like jerkass.

"What was that Thrust?" Megatron called out, causing Thrust to jump.

"Err, nothing my lord Megatron!" Thrust called back, getting back to his welding.

Cataclysm stifled a snigger.

"You shouldn't be laughing imbecile! I've noticed a significant drop in your work for the past three hours!" Megatron snapped, turning to the turn coat Maximal.

Cataclysm froze, a look of horror on his face "It wasn't me my lord! It was all Unit 11's fault! He's so lazy!"

Megatron scowled and raised his arm cannon, eliciting a terrified yelp from Cataclysm. Suddenly, Megatron swung around and blasted Unit 11, sending him hurtling off the beam that he had been rolling across.

"Let that be a lesson to you Cataclysm, do not cease working, or else that shall happen to you!" Megatron said with a glare.

"Uh, yes, oh mighty Megatron!" Cataclysm whimpered, bowing slightly.

"And you Jetstorm, don't think I haven't seen you snivelling over that wretched ant! Cease your piteous actions at once and get back to work!"

Jetstorm scowled "What right do you have to tell me to stop grieving? I ask you Megatron, so answer me!"

Megatron glowered, before raising his cannon again.

Thrust rushed over to Megatron and lowered his cannon for him "Uh, please lord Megatron, his mind is clouded by grief, he knows not what he speaks!"

"Perhaps, but he needs to get over his loss, and if he doesn't..." Megatron trailed off.

"Uh, yes, well...we'll make sure that doesn't happen, right Jetstorm?" Thrust asked his friend.

Jetstorm muttered something incomprehensible that sounded like something Thrust dare not repeat to his dreaded leader.

"Uh...Jetstorm says yes..." Thrust muttered, looking up nervously into his leader's eyes.

Not far away, Unit 11's hand poked up through a pile of junk as he struggled to free himself.

* * *

Elsewhere, the newly christened Insectrons were making their regular patrols. This time however, they were being accompanied by the rookie Maximal Snarl, much to their great annoyance.

"Ugh, why did they have to stick us with the noobie?" Scourge asked as he flew alongside Insecticon.

"Oh, he's not so bad...besides, Primal and Armordillo though it might be good if he were to get some more experience out in the field..." The beetle Predacon replied.

"Ya know, I can hear you guys, right?" Snarl asked as he perched atop Scarem's carapace as he flittered about through the skies of Cybertron.

"And you're point?" An irate Scare, hissed.

"You guys really suck." Snarl said in a deadpan voice.

In response, Scarem bucked and knocked him off.

"Was that really necessary?" Insecticon asked, staring at his comrade curiously.

"I thought it was." Scarem replied innocently as he listened to Snarl's cursings.

Not far away, Scorponok was leading a platoon of Tank drones down the empty streets of Cybertron, on their search for any of the Maximals or Predacons.

"This way men! Keep your optics peeled, we don't want to let any of those scum get away!" Scorponok told the men under his command as he thundered along the road in tank mode.

Suddenly, a Tank drone's turret swivelled around and fired.

"Wha-? Unit 27, explain yourself!" Scorponok ordered.

Unit 27 transformed back into his robot mode and began pointing and motioning frantically. Scorponok followed the drone's pointing finger and was surprised to see four Cybertronians staring at them, equally shocked.

"Oh no! It's you!" A Predacon Scorponok vaguely remembered as being called Scarem exclaimed.

"That's right pitiful worms! Now, be prepared to meet the awesome wrath of Scorponok, and his mighty Tank drones!" Scorponok boasted.

"Yeesh, what an ego!" A Predacon that Scorponok didn't recognise muttered as he rolled his optics, and held onto a golden staff for some reason.

"Enough talking, let's fight!" A small, furry Maximal cried "Snarl, Maximize!"

"Insecticon, Terrorize!"

"Scarem, Terrorize!"

"Scourge, Terrorize!"

And with that, all four of them transformed back into their natural robot modes.

"Bah!" Scorponok spat "You call those wimpy things robot modes? I'll show you how a real Transformer does it! Scorponok, Terrorize!"

And so, Scorponok too transformed, turning into a hulking grey Predacon armed to the teeth and raring to go.

"Well bring it on!" Insecticon said with a snarl as he hovered above the ground.

"Vehicons, charge!" Scorponok roared.

Instantly, both sides dashed towards the other, shouting and firing, quickly delving into complete chaos.

"Eat this Vehicon!" Snarl shouted as he leapt up into the air and smashed a Vehicon in the face with an improvised weapon: A heavy chunk of metal attached to a long chain.

"Nice on rookie!" Scarem complimented as he sliced one particularly unfortunate drone into four separate pieces.

Scorponok cursed, why was it that a handful of these fools could always beat his drones almost effortlessly?

"Drones, don't let up! Keep going with all your anger! All your hatred! All your wrath!" Scorponok commanded, curling his hand into a fist.

As if powered by his words, the Tank drones began attacking with renewed vigour, demonstrating a passion in combat that the Predacons and Snarl had never before seen.

"Argh! What is this? They've never been so driven before!" Scourge yelped as a shot grazed his shoulder, singing his techno organic skin.

"I don't know, but it-Ugh!" Insecticon was interrupted when a shot hit him dead on in the chest.

"Insecticon!" All three of his allies cried out simultaneously.

"Aha! Do you see now the power of the Vehicons?" Scorponok taunted as he menacingly approached them.

"Bah! You are weak, you pose no real threat to us!" Scourge spat, although it seemed to be an empty threat "Especially not since the demise of your leader!"

In response, Scorponok burst out laughing, the very sound chilling the energon that ran through Snarl's circuits.

"You stupid, arrogant fools! Megatron lives! I saw his resurrection with my own two optics! I witnessed his great and terrible power when he slew the traitor Antagony! You speak ignorance! How could you, mere Predacons and Maximals, ever hope to defeat the glory that is Megatron?" Scorponok sneered, triumph ringing loud and clear in his voice.

"N-no! Megatron is dead! Primal says he saw his corpse! You yourself were there!" Scarem protested.

Scorponok nodded "Indeed I was, but I saw him stand, I saw him walk, and I saw him vaporise those who would dare to betray him! You were fools to think that he was vanquished for good! I never doubted it, and he rewards me for my loyalty! I his second in command, I answer only to Megatron and control the vast armies of the Vehicon hordes! Even now, he plots his return with the restoration of one of the sites that we so foolishly destroyed! I regret my part in its desecration, but I am making up for my foolish transgression by helping to rebuild it!"

"Y-you speak madness Scorponok!" Scourge cried, backing away slightly.

"Yes, open your optics! If what you say about Megatron is true, then you must realise that he is only using you as a pawn in his efforts to rule Cybertron! Once he has no further use for you, or found a suitable replacement, stronger, smarter and en more sycophantic than you, he will dispose of you! Can you not see that Scorponok?" Scarem questioned his former comrade.

"Yeah, what they said!" Snarl added.

Scorponok snarled, his face twisting and contorting in pure malice "Shut up! You can't talk to me that way! You can't talk about Megatron that way! He truly values me and my skills, he could never discard me, like some mere pawn!"

"Yes he could, he's done it before! Magmatron knows of this, he even witnessed Megatron's cruelty!" Scarem argued.

"You lie! Megatron is only cruel to those who betray his trust! You're tying to trick me, like that wretch Terrorsaur did! Well, I'm no fool! I'll destroy you! No more talk, from now on, we just fight!" Scorponok roared, before opening fire on his foes once more.

"Look out!" Scarem cried, pushing Snarl to the side as an explosion blasted away the cement where the young Maximal had been standing only seconds before.

"Ugh...thanks..." Snarl muttered as he got to his feet.

"Thank me later, if we're still functioning by then!" Scarem shouted as he ducked to avoid another shot.

"This is crazy! How did things go so bad so fast?" Snarl asked.

"I've got no idea, I just know that I want to get out of here!" Scourge exclaimed as he raised his hands protectively over his head.

"Under the circumstances, I think that perhaps that's not a bad idea, we must retreat!" Scarem said.

"But-!" Snarl began.

"No buts! Just get going!" Scarem ordered, firing on his enemies.

"Wait! I've got to get Insecticon!" Snarl cried.

"Leave him, he's as good as dead!" Scourge warned.

"No way, never leave a man behind!" Snarl called back as he ran to Insecticon's stasis locked form and scooped him up.

"Ok, we got him, now go, go, go!" Scarem shouted as he fired a few more rounds, before turning and fleeing.

"No need to tell me twice!" Scourge muttered as he too flew off.

"Hey! Wait for us!" Snarl yelled as he ran after the two fleeing Insectrons.

"Yessss, run fools, for soon, there will be nowhere left to run, and all will bow under Megatron!" Scorponok hissed under his breath as beside him, his Tank drones stood motionless.

* * *

And, end of chapter 37. Again, I apologise for the lateness of this chapter, I've just go so much work and They Just Don't Care Anymore is taking up a lot of my spare time, so again, sorry for the lateness. Anyway, I hope that you enjoyed this chapter, sorry if I'm a little rusty or anything, been way too long since the last chapter. How will Primal react to the news of Megatron's resurrection? Will he even believe it? Will the Insectrons continue to appear? We'll find out in the next chapter...which I hope is soon...hopefully...sorry! Well, I hope that you enjoyed this chapter, don't forget to leave a review, and finally...thanks for reading!


End file.
